Evening All

[NickBrown]

Evening all, just starting out on my beekeeping adventures after I had a swarm in the garden. I rushed out saturday afternoon and bought a National hive (no supers yet) and finally got them in the box yesterday morning.

After a day at work with fingers crossed they are still in residence, so tomorrow morning I am off to buy a feeder, crown board, queen excluder, 2 more brood frames, and a super just in case they manage to make a honey store this year, and anything else I might have forgotten.

Looking forward to a good rummage in the forum and learning from real keepers.

Nick.

 

[REDWOOD]

A couple of beekeeping books, a course, membership to an association, antihistamines, smoker, smoker fuel, bee suit, gloves, varroa treatment, sugar, insulation, queen marking equipment, hive tool, wellies, if your serious then buy another hive ho and don't forget the three feet or three mile rule. good luck

 

[enrico]

You clearly know more than you are letting on going by your jargon! So...... What experience do you have?
Whatever, well done on the swarm and good luck with your 'new?' hobby.
E

 

[NickBrown]

Thanks for the replies.
Redwood, paperwork already submitted for Tunbridge Wells Bee keepers, and busy consuming beekeeping books. Bought a veil and gloves, bee brush and hive tool so far, full suit is on the list when funds allow, and as all the boxes take 12 frames but you can only buy packs of 10, there will be at least another hive on the list as I have been offered two more swarms from a local golf course, although they will probably have moved by the time I'm ready for them.

Enrico, I really did only start on saturday when the swarm arrived in the garden, I'm just a fast reader with a good memory and it makes sense to find out the correct words for things when you have to buy stuff in a hurry.

They seem very happy in their new home but are mostly ignoring the sugar solution, although it has attracted a fair few ants, so I will come up with a control for them shortly.

So far I have been greatly surprised at how peaceful the bees have been, except when I bagged them as a swarm, when they seemed really annoyed.

This does seem to be a most enjoyable adventure so far.

 

[theeggman]

to the forum Nick.

Most people use 11 frames and a dummy board in the brood box for a national.
The dummy board is easier to remove without "rolling" bees, which tends to annoy them. it then creates a space to move the other frames apart which makes the inspection much easier for the bees and the beek. You will soon find out that you don't have enough frames or foundation just when you need it. The winter sales are very good for restocking the beeshed.

Tim.

P.S. Just reread your post, how are you feeding the bees if you have an ant problem?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Most people use 11 frames and a dummy board in the brood box for a national.
The dummy board is easier to remove without "rolling" bees, which tends to annoy them. it then creates a space to move the other frames apart which makes the inspection much easier for the bees and the beek. You will soon find out that you don't have enough frames or foundation just when you need it. The winter sales are very good for restocking the beeshed.

You will be needing a lot more frales than a hive's worth in short time, and as for the supers use ten frame castellations to space them properly so you should have no problems

 

[enrico]

Sorry for my doubts! You will probably have loads of questions so ask away!
E

 

[pargyle]

P.S. Just reread your post, how are you feeding the bees if you have an ant problem?

That's a VERY important question ....

If OP is reading USA sites there's lots of stuff over there about open yard feeding ... which is a total no go area over this side of the pond and really should be in the USA !!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

That's a VERY important question ....

If OP is reading USA sites there's lots of stuff over there about open yard feeding ... which is a total no go area over this side of the pond and really should be in the USA !!

 

[NickBrown]

Until the correct size crown board arrives I have a plant pot saucer with a cut down sponge cloth floating on top of some 1:1 sugar solution, which is on a board next to the hive.

The most local bee supplies place is only open for 2 hours a day and I'm working all weekend, otherwise I would track down a board and rapid feeder from somewhere else.

How are the frame type feeders rated ?

Don't want to rush out and buy something that might be a gimick and drown half the bees.

 

[NickBrown]

I will add dummy board to my shopping list.

I am using Hoffmann frames, only because they were the only option at short notice, and was told that they're self spacing at the correct space to stop the bees building bridges between frames and locking everything together.

After a search in the forum last night I read people using their thumb for spacing and there are differing arguements between 12, 11, 10, or even 9 frames per super. Is there really a specific gap which the bees prefer, or is it just keeper preference ? In which case the hoffmann frames are largely a more expensive con ?

 

[Swarm]

Honey comb and brood comb are different. House bees need to cover the brood, so will need enough space between, two bees back to back.

 

[NickBrown]

Thanks for the info Swarm.

So just to get this clear in my head, when I can get a spacer for the brood box I should take out an unused frame and foundation and leave them with the 11 to brood on, but in a super I can over-space the hoffmanns to fill it up with the 10 I've already got and on the next super I buy, just get some square sided frames and a pair of 10 spacer rails, which is probably why they come in 10's and not 12's.

I'm planning on building up to another hive next year, and only have 1 super, so nothing will be wasted whatever I end up doing.

 

[pargyle]

Until the correct size crown board arrives I have a plant pot saucer with a cut down sponge cloth floating on top of some 1:1 sugar solution, which is on a board next to the hive.
.

Get rid of it ... you will encourage every bee (healthy or diseased !) in the area to hang around your hive ... you will attract wasps which will, given the chance, rob your hive ... not just of honey - they can be very destructive.

The best feeder, in my opinion, is a Rapid Feeder ... sits in a super or eke on top of a crown board with a hole in it .. often called a feeder board ... the bees come up through the hole in the board and into the enclosed part of the rapid feeder. You can top it up without disturbing the bees.

But ... Do you really need to feed them at present - huge amounts of good forage about, Blackberry, Limes, Himalayan Balsam .. feeding them is not really helping them unless there are no stores in the hive at all ...

 

[BeeJayBee]

Get rid of it ... you will encourage every bee (healthy or diseased !) in the area to hang around your hive ... you will attract wasps which will, given the chance, rob your hive ... not just of honey - they can be very destructive.

The best feeder, in my opinion, is a Rapid Feeder ... sits in a super or eke on top of a crown board with a hole in it .. often called a feeder board ... the bees come up through the hole in the board and into the enclosed part of the rapid feeder. You can top it up without disturbing the bees.

But ... Do you really need to feed them at present - huge amounts of good forage about, Blackberry, Limes, Himalayan Balsam .. feeding them is not really helping them unless there are no stores in the hive at all ...

Careful with your bees, they're quite precious.

And whilst you're waiting for stuff to arrive you could take a few minutes to register with Beebase, which will show you how many registered apiaries are nearby but it won't tell you how many colonies within each apiary. https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/index.cfm

 

[sail819]

sensible advice given

 

[lilybetbee]

When I got my bees and had no feeder I just used a jar (upside down) with holes punched in the lid and placed over the hole in the crown board in an empty super.

 

[NickBrown]

Pargyle, it is a newly captured swarm so as yet there are no stores in the hive, but as they are largely ignoring the sugar syrup now and collecting for themselves I have removed it, but will get a rapid feeder to use later in the year when I collect the other bits sometime this week.

BeeJoyful, thanks for the link, I have registered and will have a rumage of their info when I get a chance.

Thanks all for your replies.

 

[pargyle]

Pargyle, it is a newly captured swarm so as yet there are no stores in the hive, but as they are largely ignoring the sugar syrup now and collecting for themselves I have removed it, but will get a rapid feeder to use later in the year when I collect the other bits sometime this week.

BeeJoyful, thanks for the link, I have registered and will have a rumage of their info when I get a chance.

Thanks all for your replies.

There is no harm in feeding a couple of litres of 1:1 to a newly caught swarm a day or so after they have been hived ... that's not the main problem - what you were doing was feeding them outside the hive which is a very dangerous practice.

 

[BeeJayBee]

Most people try to leave a new swarm for a couple of days before feeding so that any latent disease spores (Nosema etc) will be trapped in the new wax, but if a swarm has been hanging in a tree for a long time the colony will be likely to need feeding straight away.

I'm not sure why open feeding is so popular in so many countries, it seems logical to make sure a colony gets its' own food without needing to compete with random bees from nearby.