In at the deep end!

[chippit]

Hi,

I have been following the forum for a while and went on a beginners course to learn about beekeeping. I have been making a national hive having received some very useful advice from the evening classes and this site. I got as far as the stand, brood box, supers, crown board, lid (bought the metal sheet 8x4 but not cut up and folded yet) and frames put together with foundation.

A friend had shown me through a few hives twice which was facinating (once I had got over my initial fear) So far so good.

Out of the blue I got a phone call on Wednesday afternoon from another friend to say for the first time in her life she was looking at a swarm of bees on a fence did I want her to find out what was happening with them? To cut a long story short my beekeeping friend and I drove 30 miles and bought them back to my newly built hive, (I had to borrow a new tin lid as I had not finished mine) The lady who's garden they were in was thrilled to have them taken away, she had been quoted £125 to have them disposed of. To my astonishment they were a) not bumble bees, b) still there when we arrived (they had already been there a day)

I had to borrow a beekeeping suit and gloves, luckily I had ordered a bb wear suit and hive tools Wed. morning which arrived today (Friday) We have the apiary visit on Sunday for the beginners, my very helpful beekeeping friend said that I had to start somewhere and so I have!

Any helpful tips? Bees were flying in and out yesturday but no sign today, I have not lifted the lid as it has been so cold today. Last night I put the varroa board in as it seemed cold, when I pulled it out this morning there were what looked like tiny pieces of wax on it.

Regards Christine (a 2 day old apprehensive excited beekeeper)

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Hi Christine! Welcome!




What an introduction to beekeeping! How lucky you've been.

If there's one bit of advice I'd give, as someone with only one year's experience, it would be to master, as soon as possible, the attitude of calmness and quietude.

I know if I feel rushed, I don't do it well, I make mistakes and, what is more important, neither I nor the bees enjoy it.

I like to plan each inspection carefully, thinking it through beforehand, and making sure I have available all I might need.

Oh - and lastly, you can never have enough crown boards! I made up 10 from a large sheet of plywood. Been a good investment.

Enjoy the ride.



Dusty

 

[Luminos]

Hi Christine! Welcome!




What an introduction to beekeeping! How lucky you've been.

If there's one bit of advice I'd give, as someone with only one year's experience, it would be to master, as soon as possible, the attitude of calmness and quietude.

I know if I feel rushed, I don't do it well, I make mistakes and, what is more important, neither I nor the bees enjoy it.

I like to plan each inspection carefully, thinking it through beforehand, and making sure I have available all I might need.

Oh - and lastly, you can never have enough crown boards! I made up 10 from a large sheet of plywood. Been a good investment.

Enjoy the ride.



Dusty

Did you use Mitre joints...


Welcome, Chrisione, btw

 

[itma]

Welcome and congratulations!

Feed and keep them cosy. Your main use for your super box(es) for now will be to surround a feeder and contain some insulation.
If it is a couple of days since they swarmed, you could - no should - feed them now.
1:1 sugar syrup.
And, if you keep the feeder topped up so it keeps from running dry, you could get an awful lot of that box of foundation drawn out for you in one hit.

The other thing that you could do would be to treat them for varroa - quickly, before they start laying (let alone sealing) brood.
Right now, any varroa are going to be on bees - and therefore very vulnerable.
Getting hold of some Oxalic would be ideal (though probably not instant), but actually a heavy dusting with icing sugar would do more good right now than at any other time in your colony's life!

 

[oliver90owner]

Feed some 1:1 tomorrow (three days after hiving). Might have been alright today as they have been hanging around at least a further day, but by now they should have used up any potentially diseased honey which they brought with them.

Don't worry too much about the varroa board - mine are left open all winter - but it won't do any harm as they do not have too much comb in which to congregate; remember they could still be hanging around in the cold, on that fence, if you had not collected them. There would certainly be enough bees to be warm enough to start drawing comb at the tops of the frames. The tiny pieces of wax shows they are building comb.

RAB

Edited to add that varroa can wait a few days - doubt they would abscond but it is always a risk - and a dose of thymol would mop up most of any mites before the first brood is capped. Removing the first patch of capped brood would also get rid of almost all mites remaining after treatment, but that is not so important for you to be doing, as an entirely new beek.

 

[BeeJayBee]

Wow! That's a fantastic way to start to beekeeping.

Feed and keep them cosy. Your main use for your super box(es) for now will be to surround a feeder and contain some insulation.

When yuo put the feeder in the super, surround it with bubble wrap, a space blanket, or anything else you can find to fill the space and keep the heat in.

When you come to making your own roof you might want to make it quite deep, so you can get a layer of insulation beneath it.

 

[yeogi75]

hi and welcome

 

[Swarm]

Very nice post Dusty.

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Very nice post Dusty.

Thank you Swarm.

and you, Luminos!

Did you use Mitre joints...

Christine, you will find there are lots of decent folk here.

Just don't get misled by the lunatic fringes!

Dusty

 

[village girl]

hello and welcome. what a good way to start. fingers crossed for a good summer
enjoy your new adventure

 

[VEG]

Welcome you will be as mad as the rest of us shortly lol

 

[chippit]

Thankyou for the welcome,

I fed the bees yesturday (1:1 sugar water) and have not looked again. It was so cold and wet yesturday I saw none of the bees out. Checked the varroa board this morning again tiny flakes of wax, I have left the board out and put the slightly larger entrance in.

When is the best time to treat for varroa and what to use, there seem to be so many methods I am not sure what to get. I have not been able to spot any on the board.

Regards Christine (day 3 of keeping bees)

 

[Cazza]

Hi Christine
I envy you at the moment, beginning beekeeping is a brilliant experience (far away and long ago for me but fondly remembered.)

Varroa treatment- choices, choices. I expect most people would use Oxalic acid solution trickled. I use "Hiveclean" which works well and is not as harsh. You could try the new MAQ strips. (These are very new so untested by me.)
Probably best to avoid the Bayvarol type strips as varroa can be resistant to these.) Other opinions will follow.
As with all things beeky, you have to make up your own mind!
Cazza

 

[MJBee]

Hi Chippit and welcome to the mad house.
Re Varroa treatment. The usual treatments are thymol in the form of Apiguard, Apilifevar or Hivemakers recipe (see "Stickey" section) and Oxalic acid.

Thymol can not be used when there are supers on - it taints the honey.
Oxalic acid (OA) is most effective in the winter when there is little or no brood.

The new kid on the block is MAQS which can be used at any time I believe and are available from Th**nes, they are however IMHO pricey.
Hope this helps. Mike

 

[itma]

...
When is the best time to treat for varroa and what to use, there seem to be so many methods I am not sure what to get. I have not been able to spot any on the board.

Regards Christine (day 3 of keeping bees)

Different treatments are appropriate at different times.


Before they lay brood is a golden opportunity.
ANYTHING (that does no harm to the bees, and would not put them in mind to move on) is better than nothing.

Oxalic is very potent, and probably ideal for treating a swarm - but you need to get it right. And you need to get it. Hence I'd rule it out for a "day 3 beekeeper".
Dusting with icing sugar is not particularly effective, but it is particularly harmless to the bees. Since you should only have a few mites (as passengers on bees), you don't absolutely need a mega-treatment at this point.
There are lots of other possibilities, from the milder (HiveClean and VarroaGard) to the sledgehammer (MAQS).
Start simple. Dust with icing sugar ASAP and every other time you lift the coverboard for the first two weeks or so.
Just as though you were dusting icing sugar over the top of a cake. But do it a bit heavier! Put down half a cupful at least of sugar each time.

Sugar is NOT an adequate long term treatment on its own.
BUT it is an ideal swarm+beginner treatment, partly because there are no cells for mites to hide in and escape the treatment.


Beebase is the National Bee Unit (of FERA, part of DEFRA) website.
It has lots of standard info, including an excellent (free download) booklet called "Managing Varroa" - which has lots of info on different treatments.
https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/index.cfm?pageid=167
The other thing you should do, is to register on Beebase. Registering your apiary location (it is confidential) allows them to inform you of local disease outbreaks, etc. Register. It makes sense.

 

[For want of a better word]

actually a heavy dusting with icing sugar would do more good right now than at any other time in your colony's life!

But make sure you take a shower afterwards, because it can get very sticky !

Hiveclean is probably the easiest way to go... expensive, but a tonic for the bees!

Keep feeding the 1:1 most suggest a contact feeder as bees will just "store" away if fed in a rapid feeder.
AND ENJOY THEM !

Best of Luck!!

& Welcome to the SELBKF !

 

[For want of a better word]

Different treatments are appropriate at different times.


Before they lay brood is a golden opportunity.
ANYTHING (that does no harm to the bees, and would not put them in mind to move on) is better than nothing.

Oxalic is very potent, and probably ideal for treating a swarm - but you need to get it right. And you need to get it. Hence I'd rule it out for a "day 3 beekeeper".
Dusting with icing sugar is not particularly effective, but it is particularly harmless to the bees. Since you should only have a few mites (as passengers on bees), you don't absolutely need a mega-treatment at this point.
There are lots of other possibilities, from the milder (HiveClean and VarroaGard) to the sledgehammer (MAQS).
Start simple. Dust with icing sugar ASAP and every other time you lift the coverboard for the first two weeks or so.
Just as though you were dusting icing sugar over the top of a cake. But do it a bit heavier! Put down half a cupful at least of sugar each time.

Sugar is NOT an adequate long term treatment on its own.
BUT it is an ideal swarm+beginner treatment, partly because there are no cells for mites to hide in and escape the treatment.


Beebase is the National Bee Unit (of FERA, part of DEFRA) website.
It has lots of standard info, including an excellent (free download) booklet called "Managing Varroa" - which has lots of info on different treatments.
https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/index.cfm?pageid=167
The other thing you should do, is to register on Beebase. Registering your apiary location (it is confidential) allows them to inform you of local disease outbreaks, etc. Register. It makes sense.

ICING SUGAR may possibly at one time in the past have had OXALLIC ACID ( anhydrous) added to it as an anti - cakeing agent, and may have been used on honeybees, and the beekeeperers noticing a mite drop.

I worked in the confectionery industry and was most certainly used at that time.... about the same time Varroa mite was first becoming a problem... who brought varroa in ... nobody knows... buk I have my suspicions!

 

[village girl]

Hi we use a dusting of icing sugar during inspections. as the bees groom each other they will dislodge some, not all of any mites present. the mites will fall through a open mesh floor we also use a short frame for removal of drone brood. the mites like to be in drone cells as they are capped longer. We also use oxalic acid and apigard at the opropriate times . I think a combination of methods keeps the veroa under control best and the non cemical methods can be used safely at any time
.
Lots of infomaton to take on bord but every one will have thear own preferd method the bigest mistake is to do nothing, read lots and go with what you feel is a good aproch to Your Bees

 

[itma]

...Hiveclean is probably the easiest way to go... expensive, but a tonic for the bees!

We can argue about what might be best overall.

My thinking was that doing something ASAP was the most important thing.
With a new beek, nothing in the shed, and a Bank Holiday, anything bought-in is going to be several days away.
Icing sugar has the major advantage of ready availability, and could be used today!

Far from the best (most effective) treatment, but icing sugar is probably the most effective treatment that could be applied today, before there are any ready-to-seal brood cells for mites to shelter (and breed) in.
By all means order something else for delivery next week, but do the icing sugar right away!

 

[oliver90owner]

Easiest is likely thymol for three or four days when there is hatched brood (less likely to abscond). On and off, job done. Remove first capped brood to mop up any stragglers and should be OK until the autumn. Another alternative is to roll the bees in icing sugar and run them back into the hive. Dusting is not to efficient and can kill brood apparently, if too much is applied. I don't like apiguard, but apilife var seems quite potent. Not tried it as I use my own thymol mixture.

RAB