# Colorado Front Range - February, 2016 - Off to a roaring start



## Dan the bee guy

Hello , I was waiting for someone to answer nobody did so I thought I would. Here we had snow yesterday not warm enuff to open hives yet. Going to have a warm up this week upper 40s lower 50s. Last Saturday had cleansing flites . Looks like I'll have 3 survivors knock on wood . Winter was mild only had two short cold spells that got to 20 below. Hopeing to split the survivors as much as possible. Hopeing for a early spring. Happy Beekeeping!


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## rwurster

All my hives that made it through winter have been flying furiously every warm day we've had for the past month. I haven't looked in the boxes but all the hives are using their top entrances now which tells me they're more than likely clustered in the top deep. I'll dig into them in the next week or two. Lots of elm pollen coming in since mid - late February.


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## Bear Creek Steve

I also see a lot of bee activity and pollen coming in, but I am sticking with my modified scheduled plan of adding pollen patties/syrup and a somewhat intrusive inspection until 15 march. I know that the girls are brooding up prematurely but I am concerned about a severe cold snap. My traditional last frost date is 18 May and yours can't be too different. 

Lost one NUC and one 10 frame Lang. so far this winter. Sent bees from both dead-out to Bee Lab in Beltsville. Diagnosis: NUC; Nosema: 1.35 million spores/bee; 1.3 Varroa mites/100 bees, and 10 frame Lang.: Nosema: 3.5 million spores/bee; Varroa mites: None detected. I do treat with OAV. I actually think that my dead-outs were most likely from starvation.

rwurster, I thought that you had earlier reported a large winter loss, or was that just among NUC's?

Steve


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## Colobee

I lost one hive to a failed re-queening last summer/fall. All the rest have made it through winter thus far. March is typically our snowiest month, and April is #3, so I doubt we're out of the woods just yet. Several recent years have been a reversal of the "March: In like a lion..." expression. 

Things started picking up the second week of Feb down here, this year - pretty much "the usual" in my experience. It will probably also be a few more weeks before I have a deeper look - depending on if we get slammed with one of those heavy spring snows. For now they look good - packing in pollen and growing in numbers.


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## rwurster

I took a giant hit this winter true. One nuc and 6 regular hives survived which I spent last weekend blasting with OAV which reminds me I should give them the second round this weekend. The hive I see most is the only one I have in town by my back door and judging by the activity coming from it today its going to be a monster hive again this year. I never have treated my in town hive/s but I'm giving 110% to remember to do it this year lol


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## shinbone

Did a second inspection today.

BTW, Chokecherries and ornamental plums are starting to bloom.

All the six hives continue to grow. The bigger hives now have capped drone cells. Two of the hives are back-filling their brood nests, which seems early in the season for swarm prep, but these two hive were brooding early, too . These two became the first two hives I have ever checkerboarded.


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## SAS

Great picture!

Here on the western slope, in my area, we are ~3 to 4 weeks behind you. The trees are starting to get some buds on them, but it will be awhile before we see any blooms of any kind. 

Luckily, all nine of my hives made it through the winter. Still to cold to do a full inspection, but as far as I can tell, they are doing good.


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## shinbone

SAS - nice to get a report from Rulison! Let us know how your Spring progresses.


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## Arnie

I just saw this thread.

Seems like we are at least a month ahead of normal.
All hives got through winter just fine and are now building up.

Last week we opened up a couple just to take a quick peek and they are looking fine, still lots of honey plus new nectar. Brooding up.

I briefly thought about reversing hive bodies, but then thought better of it. I am getting a little edgy seeing all the activity and pollen coming in every day; sort of makes me feel like I should DO SOMETHING. Then I look at the calendar. Still plenty of time, but I need to be on top of things this spring. 

I worry that we will get a cold snap in a couple weeks/month and then the first good warm day they'll be in the trees. Just have to keep up with it.


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## iluvicecream

Hi All,
I'm a second year beekeeper with two hives in Denver. The hives back up to a retaining wall that has a lot of sun & wind protection. I have a question about supering and I was hoping a more experienced Coloradoan could help. I noticed my cherry tree starting to bloom today. Now, often this tree gets snowed on mid-bloom...but it got me thinking about when and how to place the supers. For the first time, I have three drawn supers and don't quite know what sort of strategy to take. I have one thriving hive that is going into it's third summer and the other a package from last spring that is going into it's second summer. The newer hive is not as large as the first but still doing great. So here are my questions:
1. Should I wait until mid April to super or go with sometime the first week of April? Or should I just wait until I see the dandelions bloom? 
2. Should I place two drawn supers on the stronger/more populated hive at the same time? I'm thinking the two drawn should go on the strong hive to prevent swarming. I am not allowed more hives in Denver so don't want to split.
3. Should I place one fully drawn super on the second smaller hive, or do some alternating with foundation in the center and drawn at the ends...then do the same with the second super once they have 80% drawn out the first? Or should I alternate drawn with foundation?
4. Basically, how would you make the most of three drawn supers and one foundation only super given the two different hives?

I read such conflicting information online and even on this board so I thought maybe I'd check with the Colorado folk specifically.
Thanks for any help!


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## Arnie

You'll get different answers to your questions because one beekeeper does one thing s/he likes and another does something completely different, but they end up at the same place.

Normally I wait until I see fresh white wax on the tops of the upper brood frames before I super up. Also, you should know that we make comb honey so we don't want the wax to get travel stain. We wait until the flow is going well before we super.

Also, you might want to consider giving your weaker hive a frame or two of capped brood from the stronger hive. That does 2 things. Reduces the urge to swarm in the stronger hive and helps give the weaker hive a boost. Don't get the queen by accident.

I add one super at a time. Some folks top super and some bottom super. In other words, some beeks put a 2nd super under the first. Others prefer to put the 2nd super on top of the first. I bottom super because I want to be able to easily pull the finished first super off the hive at the earliest possible moment.

If you are looking to have the bees draw the super with foundation as soon as possible, try putting it on during the dandelion/fruit bloom. I use Q excluders so that there is no chance of the queen getting into a super and ruining the nice white comb with brood. Your choice about excluders. 

One other thing you can consider re swarm prevention. Vertical splits. Get a double screen, the bee catalogs have them; and when you see the bees getting ready to swarm, or if you see swarm cells, you can put the screen under the brood box with the swarm cells and let them raise a queen. The hive won't swarm because you have taken a lot of the bees and brood from them, and given them a place to put nectar. Then recombine after swarm season is over. That will prevent swarming and re-queen the hive in one simple step.

Your hive will look like this:
Hive cover.
Inner cover.
Brood box with swarm cells, no queen.
Screen with entrance facing toward the back.
Super/s.
Q Excluder..optional.
Bottom brood box with queen.
Bottom board.

In June, pull the screen and put the supers on top. 

Good luck with your bees.


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## iluvicecream

Thanks for the great reply! You've given me a lot to think about!


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## Arnie

iluvicecream said:


> Thanks for the great reply! You've given me a lot to think about!


Be aware that someone will come on here and say: "No, no, no, what Arnie said is all wrong. Do this......" 
Take it all in and do what seems right to you. Take notes and see what works and learn from that until you develop your own style.


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## Bear Creek Steve

Arnie,

That is the best advise in the world !

Steve


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## Colobee

I see nothing "wrong" with Arnie's advice :thumbsup: - as he mentions, there are many approaches. Bees are remarkably adaptive - there are many right ways to do almost anything.



iluvicecream said:


> I have a question about supering and I was hoping a more experienced Coloradoan could help. So here are my questions:
> 
> 1. _ Should I wait until mid April to super or go with sometime the first week of April? Or should I just wait until I see the dandelions bloom? _
> 
> *Go with the dandelions.* The flow will also encourage comb building.
> 
> 2. _ Should I place two drawn supers on the stronger/more populated hive at the same time? I'm thinking the two drawn should go on the strong hive to prevent swarming. I am not allowed more hives in Denver so don't want to split._
> 
> *With backyard hives, a lone super on each would be a good way to go.* The stronger hive might accept a couple frames of foundation on the outsides of their first super. They might also need that second super in very short order!
> 
> 3. _ Should I place one fully drawn super on the second smaller hive, or do some alternating with foundation in the center and drawn at the ends...then do the same with the second super once they have 80% drawn out the first? Or should I alternate drawn with foundation?_
> 
> * Avoid alternating foundation and comb in supers.* The bees tend to build out the comb frames, too thick, & ignore the foundation - making for a difficult situation. Place comb in the middle, and foundation on the outsides.
> *Perhaps make up a second super for each hive, with comb in the middle & foundation on the outsides. Give the weaker colony more of the comb.* Put these on when the first is ~80% full/covered with bees.
> 
> 4. _ Basically, how would you make the most of three drawn supers and one foundation only super given the two different hives?_
> * I hope the above addresses most of your concerns.* Re-read what Arnie said.
> 
> _I read such conflicting information online and even on this board so I thought maybe I'd check with the Colorado folk specifically.
> Thanks for any help!_ Look at it as alternative ways to accomplish the same thing. Pick one you like. Most of them work.


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## Agis Apiaries

Finally made it out to all three bee yards yesterday. Happy to find all hives doing remarkably well. What surprised me was the amounts of stores still left. One hive had the top box of a double-deep hive with all frames about 95% still capped honey. And the hive is not short on bees either. I have no idea what they've been eating all winter! I'm going to have to pull some full frames of honey and add some drawn comb just to give her room for brood. They are all definitely getting active. Some snow due Friday, but the dandelions are all coming up and so will probably have blooms in another week or so.

Tried some thermal imaging this winter with one of the new "Seek" thermal cameras you can put on your phone. I am finding that it gave me a good idea of how strong the colonies are (hotter signature) and the hottest hive is now the one with the fewest stores left (hive on far right in photos).


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## Colobee

'Sounds like you might be all set to do a proper Checker Board. Whether you do that now, or after this next freeze (or maybe the next 1, 2, or 3), or at all, is obviously for you to decide, what with the "covering brood" & "too much space" in cold weather concerns.

Listening to the forecast - snow all week in the mountains, sliding down to the front range around Thursday night, with lows in the teens, and snow & 30's on Friday. 'Not at all surprising - it seems to happen every late winter/early spring.

The chokecherries and fruit trees up here are just now showing the first signs of life - swelling buds, but not a bloom in sight. At least _this _freeze won't get them. The dandelions are also just beginning to sprout - no buds yet.


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## Colobee

This showed up overnight. 14-20" in the forecast for today.


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## shinbone

I'd say we got about 14" in this storm.


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## Arnie

18 inches on my back porch.
Just got in from helping one neighbor dig out and building a snow fort for one other neighbor's kid. I'm soaked.


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## Colobee

It's done here. Looks like 12-14" of light and fluffy. I'm not going out to check. It's too toasty in the shop.


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## shinbone

18F at my house this morning. 

I'll be checking the landing boards as soon as it warms up for dead larvae to see whether the cold snap affected brood rearing.


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## Bear Creek Steve

My girls are still wrapped in R-10 so they don't worry about thermal shock.

Steve


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## SAS

Sunny and somewhat warm on the western slope. No snow in the valley, ~6" to 8" of snow at ~8000 feet.

I hope you all are doing well over there?


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## Colobee

It's sad to see all that beautiful white snow, speckled with thousands of little poop stains.  Mine all made it - just another passing spring storm.


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## shinbone

An iphone video of the entrance to one or my busier hives this afternoon:


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## Arnie

Awesome, shinbone!

My hives are doing the same. 
This year I am going to split them using screen boards and I am getting antsy. Ideally, I want to see queen cells before I split them, but I worry we'll get a spell of bad weather and the bees will be hanging from my apple tree the first warm day after. 
Gotta be patient and wait for fruit bloom....

You have a lot of drones? My hives are cranking up the drone production. It seems pretty early.

Anyway.... good looking hives.


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## shinbone

Arnie - Thanks, and yes, I am seeing lots of drones. Swarm cells are not too far off for those hives so inclined.

Colorado's spring weather is always unstable, making successful queen mating a gamble. If you want to do early splits, you might consider purchasing your queens from a commercial queen supplier, that way you can be assured of getting well mated queens.


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## Arnie

Yea, the weather is crazy here sometimes.
Last year we had that beautiful warm April and one hive went gangbusters into swarm mode, so we split them....... and, of course, immediately got 3 weeks of cold rainy weather. Somehow the queen got herself mated and we got a nice free hive out of it. 

We'll see. I'm thinking in a couple weeks maybe the timing will be OK.


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## Colobee

Peak swarm season used to be the first week of May. It now appears to be a week or two earlier. I haven't seen any drones yet, but the hives are really starting to ramp up. One lone crocus has bloomed - no dandelions yet.


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## rwurster

Arnie said:


> Last year we had that beautiful warm April and one hive went gangbusters into swarm mode, so we split them....... and, of course, immediately got 3 weeks of cold rainy weather


haha I had completely forgot about that. I split and most of the virgin queens didnt get mated due to all the rain. It was a bit of a mess lol The splits I did a week before all got mated. All my hives currently have at least 6 frames of brood, lots of drone brood, some drones. I have a feeling this year is going to be worse than last year for swarming. Think i might make up a nuc and do an Old Timer on the spot queen rearing exercise just for a bit of insurance.

edit: I missed your post Colo and you are correct sir. I should have started queens last week but I can roll with it. Splits are definitely in my immediate future.


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## Arnie

What's your timeline on that rwurster? I'm thinking as soon as I see fruit bloom I'm splitting. Dandelions are getting going now here.


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## rwurster

Theres lots of stuff blooming, pear trees for the past 2 weeks, crab apples, dandilions, i forget the name of the stinky weeds on ditch banks, some junipers are ready to bloom. I want to have stong hives for when the black locusts pop but I don't know, and think there's going to be swarming issues early again this year so I'll do thorough inspections today and start some queens sometime this week then splits in 10 or 11 days after queens get started. I'll shoot for the 16th or 17th. I want to hold off but I have some rebuilding to do this season.


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## shinbone

As to blooming, my neighbor reports his pear trees are well into their bloom and are covered with bees. For myself, my Macintosh apple tree is just starting to open its blossoms, but my Crabapples are about 7 days before bloom. Dandelions look to be 7 - 10 days out, but I never see much bee activity on them, anyway. Based on the fruit trees, I'd say our primary Spring flow in my area should be in full swing in just a handful of days.

When inspecting one hive in particular yesterday, I saw larges patches of capped drone cells. I took the opportunity to "fork-out" a section of comb with the drone larvae using my cappings scratcher carried during hive inspections for just that purpose. I pulled and examined about 30 drone larvae total in that one hive and did not see a single mite. This I attribute to a "one-shot" OAV treatment done in mid-November when my hives are typically broodless. I had a bucket of MAQS strips on hand intending to do a Spring mite treatment, but the mite numbers are so low I didn't bother. These minimal mite numbers (obviously, the hives still have mites, just very low numbers of them) I think are contributing to the explosive Spring growth I am seeing.

I should add that most of my hives have put on about 1 medium super of honey, so far.








.


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## Arnie

you guys are ahead of me. 
I'm going to take a look today. The bees are not on the water as much the last two days, and they are flying with real purpose looking like they are getting nectar somewhere. So I'll check them to see if they need room. The fun is about to begin!


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## shinbone

More entrance videos, these from today. As can be hopefully seen (I wish my iphone video had better resolution), there are many foragers coming in, but few have pollen. I guess these pollen-less foragers have nectar?

Crab apples started blooming a few days ago, but there are some that haven't opened yet, meaning the peak is still a few days away. Some dandelion blooms can be seen, too. Chokecherry are at the end of their bloom cycle.

















.


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## Colobee

I'm a bit jealous - I have one lone crocus that has bloomed. The apple trees are just starting to poke out some visible beginnings of blooms (crimson red). Green dandelion foliage but not a bloom in sight.

I suspect we, along the front range, may benefit from a very dry week in the middle of July when it comes to mites "_The air is driest around July 9, at which time the relative humidity drops below 27% (dry) three days out of four..."_ 

One report notes that mites are incapable of reproducing at high humidities and I suspect that low humidity may have the same effect. _"In one study (Kraus and Velthuis, 1997) at 59-68% relative humidity, 53% of mites produced offspring, whereas at 79-85% relative humidity only 2% of the mites produced offspring. Zachary goes on to explain that, he too, has had experience with this phenomenon in his lab."_ 

Our driest air of the year, right when mites are trying to ramp up. I too, have to look long and hard to find mites. This is one of the best explanations I've come up with.


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## Bear Creek Steve

Colobee,

I have a slight edge on you with the crocuses with quite a few in bloom, but none of my fruit trees (Apples, pears, peaches and cherries) are close yet, except for the cutting that my wife brought into the house and "forced" so that we could enjoy the blossoms. Late frost over the last 2-3 years have taken all of my fruit blossoms so my girls missed out on the nectar and we missed out on the fruit crop. Fingers crossed for no late frosts this year but my colonies are still packed in R-10 foam. Colobee, I'm just below 7 K feet but you are somewhere just below 7,354 ft.

Steve


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## Colobee

My GPS reads ~6400'. I found a handful of Dandelions that popped today, and a few more Crocus. Some kind of rose thicket too. The Tulips, Hyacinth & Lilies are bursting up. The Crab Apple is about to pop. I hear you on the fruit blossom freezes. We average a crop every third year. We got our first rain showers (as opposed to snow) this weekend.


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## rwurster

I re-inspected hives and I'm hoping my hives in the county will be ready to split in a few weeks, my hive in town has gone from a well built up hive to a monster in the past week. I'll split it and use it as a cell builder which i didn't want to do until the black locust flow but I really don't want to lose bees. The cottonwoods in the county were in full bloom as of April 8th and so was the musk mustard. Almost every year the mustard is getting worked hard except for this year, they're pulling tons of pollen in from other sources which I have yet to identify.


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## Arnie

Yesterday we checked a couple of hives that are pretty strong and we found a few swarm cells. Not capped yet but full of bee milk.
So we thought, OK you want to swarm in April, let's split you and see how you do! 

We made up 2 nucs with a Q-cell frame and a frame of honey, a couple frames of emerging brood and a bunch of young bees. 

One hive we split vertically with a double screen.

Woke up last night thinking: It's April 10th! What are you doing? It's too cold and iffy weather to split. 
Well, today I went to check and the nucs are humming with bees, some are orienting and they seem calm and happy. Didn't open them.

We had blocked the entrance pretty good with grass and piled a bunch of sticks in front of the entrance hoping to keep as many bees home as possible. 

I've never split this early. But the fruit trees and dandelions are going crazy so maybe it can work.

I might take a peek Thursday to see how it's going.

I put the 4th and final medium brood boxes on my backyard hives. They are covering all 30 frames in the three boxes they wintered in. 
In a couple weeks I want to split them also. I promised to help a neighbor out with some bees this spring and I'd like to have three backyard hives. 

Too many splits this year!


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## Colobee

Thursday looks to be a great day. Then they are talking about rain and potentially wet & heavy snow for the weekend. Iffy weather is exactly right for April (& early May)! These 75* days often get me second guessing. Then it snows, then more 70's, more snow, more 70's...
more guessing...


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## shinbone

Colobee said:


> Iffy weather is exactly right for April (& early May)! These 75* days often get me second guessing. Then it snows, then more 70's, more snow, more 70's... more guessing...


The meteorological roller coaster sometimes referred to as Spring along the Front Range.


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## obi735

I'm a rookie beekeeper located in Littleton tending to a swarm colony we caught last May. The colony is very strong and an inspection on Sunday uncovered about 5-6 swarm cells with day old eggs. We crushed them but now I'm wondering about my next move. Like Colobee a split sounds like a good idea but it's so early...

In your opinion what are typical "split times" along the front range? With our unpredictable weather I'm curious to know what other beekeepers along the front range do.


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## fieldsofnaturalhoney

obi735 said:


> In your opinion what are typical "split times" along the front range? With our unpredictable weather I'm curious to know what other beekeepers along the front range do.


Sorry to hear that you crushed them;(, but there will be more. It is not SO early if they are already building swarm cells. That is the first sign. I imagine after this weekend, hives in the front range will be in full blown swarm mode. Which would be a week or so early.


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## Bear Creek Steve

obi,

As Colebee and fields have advise you, you need to have your equipment ready and on stand-by, because your next opportunity is coming sooner than you think. In your previous situation you could have could have crushed the two smallest queen cells (QC), put two each in two separate NUC's with a frame of food and a frame of brood each, and fed them 1:1 syrup and a pollen patty (this is all minimal) and had the starts of two additional colonies. Since it is early in the year, and if you made sure that they had feed, they would probably be strong enough to go into winter adequately prepared. In other words, be ready with your equipment.

Steve


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## Arnie

Cutting the cells gives you a little time to plan how to prevent the swarm that is coming. But will not stop them.

What do you have for equipment? Do you have a honey super to give them? That would not guarantee they won't swarm but sometimes they put the nectar and honey up top and it frees up some room below for the queen.

If you only have the one hive and don't want more, a double screen board can help keep them from swarming. Easy as pie. Lift the top brood box; put a queen excluder on the lower box(If you like to use an excluder) a super or two above that; the screen board, entrance facing the back, on the super; the top box on that. Then cover with the inner cover and hive cover. You are finished until swarm season is ended.

If you wanted to split them and recombine later you would need a bottom board and a cover. You could rig something up if need be, two pieces of plywood, one for the top, the other the bottom with a shim for an entrance. Just take one hive body and move it to a new stand. Give the original a super or two. Put them side by side with the new hive facing the back. Recombine with newspaper after swarm season.

If you want increase then follow Steve's plan. 

Have fun with it.


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## Colobee

obi735 said:


> In your opinion what are typical "split times" along the front range? With our unpredictable weather I'm curious to know what other beekeepers along the front range do.


'Not an opinion - just an observation - I've had hundreds of successful splits with late April mail order queens. It's quite likely that any mid-April queen cells will have at least a day or two of decent mating flight weather in any given week after mid-April - _just no guarantees._ As said, your best bet is probably to make two, and hope for one.

I've only been living here for 50 years, and keeping bees for 40, so that's just one observation and one fairly successful approach. Some respectable local queen breeders have observed that the most consistently successful local queen rearing tends to be after June 1st.

Rwuster would likely get a jump on us all, on average - down in Pueblo. By how much - I don't know. My plan is to rear 3 queens for every one that I hope to eventually see make it. I may try a few in early May - still waiting to see the first drone for now, and not in a huge hurry. Winter was very good to me.


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## shinbone

Colobee - I've been seeing drones for 2 weeks, and I am very close to you . . .


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## Arnie

According to my notes the first drone I saw was March 15th. Seemed way early.
Last year in April we had a booming hive that looked to be on the verge of swarm prep, but I remember seeing no drones. 
It changes from year to year.


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## Bear Creek Steve

The Pikes Peak Beekeepers Association is doing a class this year with the mass graft on 4 April and a projected hatch date on ~12 May.
We'll see how it goes.

Steve


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## rwurster

Colobee said:


> Rwuster would likely get a jump on us all, on average - down in Pueblo. By how much - I don't know


 I'm making some "fingers crossed for good mating weather" queens. It's still early enough to make queens several times even though it really looks like there's going to be early swarms here. Mid May - June are pretty bulletproof months for open queen mating 80 - 90% success however I've noticed once the robber flies emerge queen mating success goes down to 40 - 50%.


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## Colobee

I removed the feeder shims yesterday, before they had a chance to make a mess of the open space. I went through the weakest two hives - the "5 over 5" medium nucs. They looked pretty good and I even saw a few capped drone cells. Our first spring flows have just begun. My hives are still in "recovery mode" - no swarm prep, yet. Mid May-June sounds pretty good for queen rearing.

Steve - did you mean April 24th for grafting? The 29th? Something doesn't add up.


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## Bear Creek Steve

Colobee,

Darn cataract surgery, it just doesn't allow me to count on my fingers very well. Thanks for keeping me honest. *Graft on 30 April and hatch ~ 12 May.* Does that sound better?

Acknowledge that this demo is not at the optimum time of the year. The purpose is to demo the step by step flow of the process so that hopefully the "students" can *duplicate the process on their own *later when the timing is more optimum. 

Also, when the timing is more appropriate, I plan to demo and explain a Taranov split to "students" that have at least two years of "keeping" under their belt. As you are aware, that is also a great way to isolate out a group of young nurse bees, for other purposes as well. 

Steve

Keep me honest !

Steve


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## rwurster

Hey Steve, is this grafting class open to the public? I would like to attend. I taught myself but being around those that have done it never hurts, I always learn new tricks.


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## Bear Creek Steve

Richard,

We are novices struggling to put this together. We would be glad to have you join us but you might have to provide some lecture time too. Do you still have my e-mail address ?, If not send me a PM (which I hate)

Steve


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## shinbone

Did someone mention that Spring along the Front Range is a weather roller coaster?

Swarm season was just ramping up, when this happens:


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## Colobee

Overnight:






'Looks to be ~6 inches, by the "dog's ankle" gauge.

Supposedly 2 more days of this...

Steve, I'm hoping to make the meeting, and would also like to attend the class if possible. Hopefully this snow will be gone & the roads clear.  (sarcasm). Actually - I'm hoping the next one isn't even bigger (truthful) - it's that time of year; the "2nd snowiest month".

I'll send you an email.


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## Arnie

You guys have a lot more than I do.

I hope this doesn't kill the apple flower buds on my tree.


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## Bear Creek Steve

Shinbone,

That looks like only a dusting ! 

I do like your saw, ax bit, and ?traps? collection on the shed wall though !

Steve


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## shinbone

Bear Creek Steve said:


> Shinbone,
> 
> That looks like only a dusting !
> 
> I do like your saw, ax bit, and ?traps? collection on the shed wall though !
> 
> Steve


Thanks! Yes, traps. My "northwoods" motif.


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## sakhoney

To All - I was told 35 years ago by a beekeeper running 15000 hive this about supering. 
#1 Bees can never have to much room. They will cluster if they need to keep warm
#2 with a warehouse full of boxes - he stated - the best way to make sure the boxes don't get filled with honey - leave them in the warehouse.
#3 what will keep boxes of comb better? If there on the bees they will at least keep out the moth and keep them polished - ready to receive honey if needed
My 2 cents worth


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## Bear Creek Steve

Haven't braved my way out to the bee yard yet but this is what it looks like out the kitchen window, and there is still snow coming down.
Steve


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## Colobee

We have about a foot now. "A dog's knee" - the big dogs, anyway.






The garden wagon ( & honey hauler) in the foreground has 12" sideboards.

It's supposed to quit sometime Monday. 68* by Thursday, looks like I'll be making the PPBA meeting.

Stay inside, Steve - it's just the same old stuff we get every April.  2 inches of slush under 10" of powdery.

The forecast low tonight is mid-twenties. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the fruit blossoms as well, Arnie.


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## sakhoney

yea- it might be a little early - SE Texas - 75/80 in the day - yea buddy.


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## Bear Creek Steve

sak,

My Houston son says: "Everything is bigger in Texas except the snow fall. You can keep that white ‎stuff. "
I'll bet you would agree.
Steve


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## sakhoney

and you would win that bet - know what they say - snow is a 4 letter word. - I got a letter called "A Texan moves north" I'd love to post but at the end it gets quite foul mouthed
If your not a full blown Christian shoot me an e-mail address and I'll send it to ya. You will piss on yourself


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## Colobee

I love Texas Jokes - (short version) 'Ever hear about the guy who missed the turn for the men's room & fell into the swimming pool - After hearing how "everything's bigger in Texas"... he came up screaming "DON'T FLUSH IT!!!".  

On the other hand, I'll take the snow over AHB, any day! 

Snow, especially this time of year, can be a blessing in disguise. This storm will leave 3-5 " of moisture - much of it soaking deep into the ground rather than running off. The Alfalfa & Sweet Clover will have growth spurts that last for weeks - setting the stage for yet another strong main flow.


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## sakhoney

Well on the other side - Work and get your hives up to 5/6 pounders in triples. May 5th tallow blooms - Bees put on 200/225 pounds of honey in 35/40 days - pull and extract - put up supers for the year. Unless needing more splits - your done for the year.


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## Colobee

I'm stayin put.

Let them overwinter naturally. Let them build up naturally in the spring. Super in mid June. Pull 200 lbs in August. Let them keep the fall flows for winter stores. Hit "reset". No AHB. 

I've been to Texas. I've spent 50 years in Colorado. This is where I belong. My bees like it too.


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## Bear Creek Steve

Sak,

Like Colobee, I'm sticking here too, but your production rates sound awfully juicy. My last two years have been slim pic ken's in the foothills with only wildflowers at ~7K feet, minimal moisture, and a shortened season to boot.

I think I may have beaten the V-mites, for the time being, with OAV so if we get enough moisture at the right time of the year, maybe 2016 will be a good year.

Steve


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## Agis Apiaries

Colobee said:


> We have about a foot now.


Same here. No bee wranglin' here today! :waiting:


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## Colobee

Here's our progression:
4/16 AM.







4/16 PM







4/17 AM








~18 inches, so far - it's supposedly about done. Clearing out tomorrow and back into the 70's by Friday...


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## Arnie

We got about 6 or 8 inches here. Came home at 11:30 this morning and it was still snowing pretty hard; the bees were out flying around. Not a lot of them, just enough to make me shake my head. They are sick of winter, I think.


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## shinbone

My garage roof at about 9:00 am this morning. I'd say we got 12" - 14" of wet, heavy snow. Lots of tree damage with this storm.


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## sakhoney

well guys - my bees just finished a 60 pound honey flow from blue/dew/black berry's - Ya'll can have/keep all of that


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## Agis Apiaries

sakhoney said:


> well guys - my bees just finished a 60 pound honey flow from blue/dew/black berry's - Ya'll can have/keep all of that


Oh our bees are really packing it in too! Bringing in heeps and heeps of this white fluffy pollen form somewhere!!! :s


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## Colobee

sakhoney said:


> well guys - my bees just finished a 60 pound honey flow from blue/dew/black berry's - Ya'll can have/keep all of that


And "Ya'll" can keep your AHB, fire ants, termites, mosquitoes, droughts, Texas sized tornadoes, floods, monsoonal downpours, hurricanes and HEAT! You can always put on more clothes, but you can only take all of them off, and still be too hot! I "did some time" in SE Texas, and have experienced all of the above, and that's why I'm back in Colorado.

Primarily, the same "dominant" AHB genes that carry their extreme aggressiveness also comes with the inability to cluster & withstand the cold & snow. Having had a brush with an AHB crossed Texas queen - there ain't enough honey in the world (outside of Colorado) worth ANY of that misery! :no:

I'm glad we agree - there's not much room left in Colorado anyway.


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## Colobee

It looks like the fruit trees blossoms may have survived, based on the observation that we never dropped out of the 30's for this storm. 'Should know for sure by the weekend. 

Bet your boots that some hives will have been making the best of the confinement making queen cells ( right on time for swarm season). I'll be checking some this weekend, nucs at the ready. 

Gotta head to the hospital - grandson #1 just arrived.


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## Arnie

Congrats on the little guy! 

I'm thinking the same thing re swarm cells.


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## Bear Creek Steve

Also Congratulations! Did they let you assist with the delivery?

Steve


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## Colobee

Thanks. Steve - no, my daughter didn't want any "help" this time (or the first time, for that matter).


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## Colobee

34*, & more snow today.


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## Arnie

Hey Colobee....how's the newest little beekeeper doin'? Everything OK?

Checked the nucs and vertical split I made on the 10th. In the nucs, bees are covering all 4 frames, so I checked no further. They seem happy. The vertical, I checked and found one frame with cells capped. Broke open the small ones and left the two fat ones. It all looks good. Now to get us a week or so of good warm queen mating weather! Drones are abundant.

Backyard bees are going crazy! On Thursday I split one with a double screen. The bees are orienting to the back entrance. I'll peek at them on Sunday. 

So far so good.


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## Colobee

Arnie - he's fine, thanks. He came home today. He's destined to be a beekeeper - after all, his middle name is "Danger" - no kidding! 

My bees are flying. I can see them from a short distance but don't want to wade out through the sloppy wet foot of snow still left, to get a closer look. I'm just happy to see fresh Plum, Crab Apple & Apple blossoms today. The Dandelions should be going crazy by Thursday or Friday - all this wonderful moisture. 

I'll be a bit surprised if don't find a few queen cells this weekend. Who knows - it takes some doing to get Buckfast to swarm. There are only a few 3rd year queens. I should have some drones hatching soon, if not already - 'saw a few capped DC's last week. There should be _some_ mating weather in the upcoming mix.


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## rwurster

Both of my computers fried so I haven't been on for a few days. Congratulations to Colo on a new member of the family. We got snow, wind, cold, etc. but it only lasted a few days. I caught a 3 pound swarm in my backyard from the hive by my house yesterday and no kidding I went outside this afternoon and caught another 3 pound swarm out of the same bush, exact same spot lol. You guys keep that snow and send your swarms down south


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## Striider

Congrats Colobee on the new beek! Thanks for the advice last fall, all 3 of my hives survived, even my small late season walk away split. I moved that hive to Parker and it will be pollinating my friend's garden this year. My bees started early February like all of yours on this thread, and they have been going gangbusters ever since. They have been working all of the neighborhood plum trees and such, and were filling up empty supers from winter with nectar as of last week. I removed some capped honey that they didn't eat from winter - 3.5 frames worth, but left them quite a bit too. I wintered them on 1 deep on the bottom and 3 mediums mostly full of honey, and they made it fine. They had a few frames of brood in each hive except the newest one, which only had 1/3 of one side of a frame, but I saw the queen actively laying when I was in there last week. I am thinking of ordering 2 queens and splitting since both hives are FULL of bees and I stocked up on hives for this season so I have 2 ready to go. I did spot a little brood in the top medium super on one hive, and moved that frame down into the second layer where she already had some brood too. I think she got started super early before they moved back down or something.

Do you guys have any advice for me on the splits? I am thinking of starting them in just a 10 frame deep with a frame or 2 of brood in it until she gets brood going then adding a medium on top and going from there. I want lots of honey this year!


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## Arnie

Striider,
When your queens arrive, take a couple frames with honey and pollen, a couple frames of open brood,,,,don't get the queen accidentally,,,, and a frame or two of capped brood. Arrange it this way; frames with pollen and honey on the ends, frames of capped brood next, and in the center the two frames of open brood. All that will go into the center of the hive body with the frames of foundation at the edges.

Move those into your new hive and place the queen cage between the two frames of open brood. Follow Harry's queen introduction tips here:
http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?311486-Successful-Queen-Introduction-tips

Then after a couple weeks make sure they have syrup or nectar coming in and are able to protect their hive.


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## Colobee

x2 :thumbsup:

I like to make up splits (usually in late April) and place them on top of an established hive, over a double screen board. By late April there is usual some form of early flow, & plenty of pollen available. 

The double screen board must have a separate entrance for the upper unit. We often have shots of cold weather right into late May, and this reduces the risk of brood chill in the developing splits if overnight lows plunge. I have several of these:






that have served me well for decades. Yeah, I know - this one looks pretty beat - it's in the repair/replace pile. A notched inner cover - notched side up & screened on BOTH sides of the middle hole - can accomplish the same thing.

The splits can be set off, or combined, or whatever - just before supers go on in mid-June. By then they should have had ample time to build up enough to "stand alone".


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## iluvicecream

Hello Coloradans!
Happy Spring! I was wondering when Denver people were thinking of putting on the supers. Would the first of April be too early? We have tree blossoms all over the place and I've seen some dandelions blooming here and there. I was also thinking of placing two supers on at the same time (both drawn) and then checking to place the third later. Any thoughts. Last year I did one, then two weeks later another and so forth. My hives are against an eastern facing retaining wall that creates a warmer micro-climate when the sun is shinning. Please let me know what you all think! Thanks!


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## Colobee

The recent warm weather is bringing out the buds. It's probably a safe bet that a strong hive might start storing honey as soon as the dandelions come out in numbers. If that's April 1st in your area, then have at it. My hives have always been left to build up on the spring flows and are usually needing space (supers) by mid-June. I've never tried early supering but that doesn't mean it wouldn't work.

We are looking at the potential for up to a foot of snow overnight, with a Blizzard watch thrown in, after tying a record high today. Roller coaster for sure! That moisture may kick start things. How did they do last year?


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## Wosiewose

Yep, we've got dandelions popping out all over the place, and the crocuses have already finished blooming. My neighbor's crabapple is about to burst into bloom, and my Rainier cherry buds are showing "color" (white)... and here comes the snow. Supposed to be here in a few hours. But Intellicast says we're only supposed to get 1-3" in my area.

...and...and.....

...and my one hive, that I thought was doing so well, died out last week or the week before.  Doesn't seem to have been starvation - the cluster was literally sitting on capped honey/syrup, some of which they'd eaten. It looks as if maybe they went queenless (no queen found in the cluster) and dwindled out. No brood that I could find.

Now I have to wait for the April 29 packages to arrive (unless a swarm should haply come my way). Going to try for two hives this year, and maybe then they'll have a better chance of getting all the way thru next winter...


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## iluvicecream

I know, this weather is crazy! My two hives made it through the winter okay. I put sugar cakes on them the beginning of January and added more a few weeks ago. The hives are going on their 3rd and 4th summer (with 3 requeenings due to absent queens and a swarm that never requeened itself!) I expect I'll see a swarm sometime soon from the second! I can only legally have 1 hive (Arapaho County) and I'm pushing it with two. Last year, my first hive swarmed the end of April. I just started seeing drones yesterday. If the nights are still getting down to the 30's and 40's, do you think it's foolish to place two supers on at once?

Sorry about the hive, Wosiewose. If my hive swarms somewhere "catchable" I'll let you know!


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## Colobee

Yeah, it's never fun to lose one. As to the early supering - mine would get one at a time. What with the fickle weather, shots of cold, and average overnight lows still below freezing for a few more weeks, it might wait until mid-April down here (not a single Dandelion so far). I might just give it a try, on one of the strongest hives, around mid April if & when it warms back up. Dandelion honey is said to be nearly water white (?)

March 24th: We got about 6" of heavy wet snow on the grass overnight - much needed moisture.


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