# Probably starting over next year



## wvbeeguy (Feb 20, 2011)

We all make mistakes early in our hobby. Left alone I dont think a softball sized cluster of bees will survive a New England winter. You should freeze then store any drawn comb to prevent wax moth. If not freezing then turned on its side exposed to sunlight to prevent wax moth - I would go freezer route with small amount of equipment you have. Good luck in spring- mites and bees are on their timetable , not ours.


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Actually for a new beekeeper you made several good choices, just the bad one was cooking the bees but you learned so that's a plus, next time in that situation could pay to take the top off and nail gauze right across.

Anyhow best of luck for next season.


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## GaryG74 (Apr 9, 2014)

Sorry you lost your hive. Don't give up, freeze the comb and stores, and good luck next year.


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## KillaBeezs (May 9, 2015)

Thanks for the advice. The cooking only occured because on moving night the girls found a hole in the screened bottom. As I was attempting to keep them in they kept finding ways out and I was making the trip in a hardtop jeep. After taking numerous stings, I finally just duct tapped the whole screened bottom, hoping the climate controled jeep would be ok for the 8 hour trip. When I opened them up as soon as I placed the hive I could tell there was an issue. For the next three days they piled thousands of bees right outside the hive. I gave them a week before checking in and saw emergency queen cells. 

Hopefully posting my mistakes will help other new beeks not make the same mistakes. The death of that hive literally made my 4 year old daughter cry (she was the one who picked out the vsh queen)


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## enjambres (Jun 30, 2013)

You could (temporarily) renovate the inner dimensions of the remaining colony's space using follower boards and insulation panels to shrink it down to a nuc-sized cavity. Then further insulate the exterior of the colony with more foam panels (I use 3-4" around my stacks.) If it is QR, and has enough stores, and you give them an OA dribble to smack down the mites again (assuming you don't have OAV equipment), they might make it. What have you got to lose by trying? The number of bees is worrisome, but putting them into a more-snug home might do the trick.

This weekend it will be warm enough in MA to do the interior work.

Enj.


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## KillaBeezs (May 9, 2015)

So I made it in the hive...well now it is a nuc... today and the queen is still alive. Very small amount of brood present (under 20 capped cells). ..softball size cluster. Right now they are in a double 5 frame medium nuc box...(10 medium frames total). All 10 frames are 70 percent or more full of capped honey. One or frames still have significant uncapped portions. The nuc has a screened bottom without an easy way to close it. 

Though i don't think they will make it through the winter...I'm still going to try. my plan...make a small upper entrance (size enough for one or two bees) to help with moisture and in case of snow blockages. Wrap hive in water resistant moving blankets for insulation. Then leave them alone until late February. ..check and add another frame of honey if needed.

Let me know if this sounds like a good plan or if I should make some adjustments.


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Did a double take when I saw your name Killabeezs, you are named after a local childrens street gang here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0q8mTq2hCs


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## KillaBeezs (May 9, 2015)

Had no clue. I had my oldest daughter pick out the name. Invisioning me as a gangster is kinda like..

https://youtu.be/AltMeuPkWRs


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Ha Ha good video, good to see they don't take themselves too seriously. 

Anyway how's that beehive, still alive?


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## Bees of SC (Apr 12, 2013)

Where is NOVA? You may still have more room than needed for a small cluster of bees, get rid of the sbb, keep heat in, moisture out. Don't say they want make it unless that is what YOU wont


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## KillaBeezs (May 9, 2015)

Bees of SC said:


> Where is NOVA? You may still have more room than needed for a small cluster of bees, get rid of the sbb, keep heat in, moisture out. Don't say they want make it unless that is what YOU wont


NOVA is northern Virginia. But I recently moved to MA. (Trying to update my profile from my phone is not working correctly) I'm thinking of using the packing blanket to wrap under to cover up the screen on the baseboard. Since this is my first year I have no clue how much food they will go through so I was worried about making the space any smaller ...currently at 10 medium frames. How much do you think a softball size cluster will go through in a New England winter? I can't remove the frames with the uncapped honey (the moisture) because those are the ones they are clustered on and the small brood nest is there, so if I pull out any they will be capped honey frames. Is it worth pulling out honey stores to make the space smaller?


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## aunt betty (May 4, 2015)

Bees got cooked by NOVA. Interesting. A superNOVA would turn them to plasma dust.


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

"The death of that hive literally made my 4 year old daughter cry (she was the one who picked out the vsh queen)"

I would leave the little child out of this catastrophic event.
Too traumatizing to a little girl at this point. So you need to
provide some bee education to her. Mainly is to reinforce her about
how the bee cycle works. That death and dying is normal to them because
of so many bees in the hive. Each cast has its own role to play in the bee hive.
If you want to save this little hive it is still possible by giving it a new queen.
Without a laying queen they cannot make it through the winter there.
Perhaps this might be a mild winter we just don't know yet.
I once baby sit a less than one frame of bees with a new laying queen through out the
cold winter here. We have mild winter but still chilly in the early Spring time. I gave them a small
electric heat pad all winter long. And fed them patty subs. 
The strategy is to use the partition divider boards to keep the cluster tightly
together in a nuc to keep the heat in. Any empty hive space you can fill it up with
newspapers or a small towel if you don't have the flexible foam sheets. So your 10 frame box will be turn into a 3-4 frame nuc at the top with the new queen. At the bottom of the 3 frame box is another hive box to put all the honey frames in. Keep the pollen frame on each side with the bee frame in the center. Keep a small one bee space opening at the entrance. Then wrap the whole hive in with the thick foam boards to overwinter them. Lastly, give them Lauri's sugar bricks on a search here. If the queen keep up with her job then in the Spring time you should have more bees in there if the mites don't bother them.


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

I think next year will be a good one for you!


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## KillaBeezs (May 9, 2015)

As a quick update. ..they are still ALIVE! My current set up is a 5 over 5 medium nuc. I put a foam board under the bottom to cover the screen and used thin foam boards on both inside sides. I shimmed the top which added a one bee size top entrance and ventilation and closed the botton to one or two bee size. 

I was worried over Christmas as the warm temps (into 70s) might get the queen laying again right before the cold snaps. So we had a almost 50-60 degree temp swing to bring in the new year. Today was the first day I felt comfortable enough to crack the lid for a second just to see if they were still in there. And when I cracked the top the softball size cluster met me right on top, didn't even need a full second.

Being able to handle that swing gives me confidence that they have a shot of making it through. 

As for next year...I picked up two complete used hives to include 6 honey supers for $100. . Have another two hives worth of equipment and am building several nucs and a queen castle (wife got me a queen rearing kit for x-mas).

If my current hive (well now nuc) makes it plus the two packages this year...I will be able to run three hives and hopefully try my hand at queen rearing using one of those hives and my nucs (with a goal of having three hives and three nucs for next winter...and possibly some queens in the castle).


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## wvbeeguy (Feb 20, 2011)

GOOD NEWS, hope it works for next couple of months, would make sure their is a sugar block on top, if they are near there now and temps drop thwy wont go back down to other stores. Bees generally move up thru hive during winter; have one now a little larger than yours, in a single Deep nuc and have shim on top and a 4pound sugar block on top. Set it in garage with entrance covered with screen, on days of 40+ temps I set it out on a table. I know a lot of work, should have combined with one of the other strong hives, this is just an experiment to see if about 2 lbs of bees and queen in a single nuc can survive and to see how fast they grow in spring - it was a late swarm catch.


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## KillaBeezs (May 9, 2015)

Over the weekend I was able to pop the top to add a sugar block over the cluster with a spacer...less than a 10 second operation because temps were low 40s. They are still there but I'm not as full of confidence as I was a few weeks ago. On my quick look I could see a small group of bees frozen away from the cluster, and I only saw half of what was there before (of course I didn't look hard down into the comb...trying to get in and out quick). The hive still has plenty of honey, but I was worried the cluster was too small to move around in the cold to get the food, which is why I added the sugar blocks. 

Added 1in foam all around for this storm coming up and likely won't check on them again until spring to see if they are still there. ..not much else I can do.


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