# Inspection Today. We've Got Drones!



## Nordak (Jun 17, 2016)

Checked 3 of my hives today. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, but man, I'm gonna have my hands full this year.


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## Nordak (Jun 17, 2016)

One of my favorite queens.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

looking good nordak!


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## Nordak (Jun 17, 2016)

Thanks SP. I'm tickled with what I saw. Lots of capped and open brood, lots of stores, tons of pollen. They'll be making swarm preps in a month if I don't get on top of things. Need to get busy.


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## westtnbeekeeper (Oct 26, 2015)

squarepeg said:


> looking good nordak!


Yes... Good looking bunch of bees. Wish I had several drones flying around as I have one trying to supersede this week.


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## Nordak (Jun 17, 2016)

Thanks. You might be surprised westtn. Hope it works out for you.


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## westtnbeekeeper (Oct 26, 2015)

Nordak said:


> Thanks. You might be surprised westtn. Hope it works out for you.


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## Riverderwent (May 23, 2013)

Nordak said:


> Checked 3 of my hives today. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, but man, I'm gonna have my hands full this year.


:thumbsup:


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## Tim KS (May 9, 2014)

Nordak, what kind of high & low temps have you been having the last couple of weeks? I'm in southcentral KS and I'm planning splits as soon as I find drones here, but being mid-Feb. I guessing too early for here yet. We just came off a couple of days of mid 70's and back to highs in the 50's.


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## AvatarDad (Mar 31, 2016)

That pollen frame is fantastic.


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## Nordak (Jun 17, 2016)

Tim KS said:


> Nordak, what kind of high & low temps have you been having the last couple of weeks? I'm in southcentral KS and I'm planning splits as soon as I find drones here, but being mid-Feb. I guessing too early for here yet. We just came off a couple of days of mid 70's and back to highs in the 50's.


It's been a roller coaster, but I'm guessing average of highs in the mid 60's, lows 40ish. This past Thursday was 48 for a high, 29 for a low. Yesterday was 81 for a high, 57 for a low. Arkansas weather for you.


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## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

Nice looking bees.


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## texanbelchers (Aug 4, 2014)

Absolutely looks good. It has been a strange season already. I have no drones in any of my hives, but my biggest just decided to swarm already. She and half the bees were gone with just barely started QCs. Who said they had to be capped before they leave?

Just a heads up to be prepared early.


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## Hoot Owl Lane Bees (Feb 24, 2012)

Nordak

How far a you from Branson Mo.?
I may have to open some of my hives if your close.


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## Nordak (Jun 17, 2016)

Thanks Flowerplanter and texanbelchers.

Hoot owl, I'm about 2.5 hours away from Branson.


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## Hoot Owl Lane Bees (Feb 24, 2012)

Thanks Nordak

That should give me some breathing room.
I will still check a few of my stronger hives as I would like to start raising Queens .


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## Nordak (Jun 17, 2016)

Hoot Owl Lane Bees said:


> Thanks Nordak
> 
> That should give me some breathing room.
> I will still check a few of my stronger hives as I would like to start raising Queens .


That was one reason I was checking today. Glad I did. I'm so far behind by their schedule it's not even funny. Best of luck to you.


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## 1102009 (Jul 31, 2015)

Wow!
That´s looking great!
:thumbsup:


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## Nordak (Jun 17, 2016)

Thanks Sibylle.


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## Marcin (Jun 15, 2011)

Nordak,
how is this build up compared to previous years? Are you on schedule, ahead or behind? 
I'm no where near being able to inspect my hives in detail like you, but quick peaks and warm day bee activity are leading me to believe that my bees are gearing up faster than what I'm used to seeing in the past.


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## dlbrightjr (Dec 8, 2015)

Hoot Owl Lane Bees said:


> Nordak
> 
> How far a you from Branson Mo.?
> I may have to open some of my hives if your close.


I'm just south of you and my queens have just started laying in the last week. Eggs and open brood.


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## missybee (Sep 6, 2014)

We have hatched out drones in two of our hives


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## tpope (Mar 1, 2015)

I got them walking the comb as of today.


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## Nordak (Jun 17, 2016)

Marcin said:


> Nordak,
> how is this build up compared to previous years? Are you on schedule, ahead or behind?
> I'm no where near being able to inspect my hives in detail like you, but quick peaks and warm day bee activity are leading me to believe that my bees are gearing up faster than what I'm used to seeing in the past.


Hey Marcin,

They are building up much faster this year than in previous years. I'd say they are probably around 3 weeks ahead of schedule compared to what I normally see coming out of winter. Caught me by surprise, but then again I had been noticing the populations were quite a bit larger than normal based on entrance activity.


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## Hoot Owl Lane Bees (Feb 24, 2012)

dlbrightjr

That is what I am seeing in my OV hive.
I will open some hives this weekend.


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## Marcin (Jun 15, 2011)

Nordak said:


> Hey Marcin,
> 
> They are building up much faster this year than in previous years. I'd say they are probably around 3 weeks ahead of schedule compared to what I normally see coming out of winter. Caught me by surprise, but then again I had been noticing the populations were quite a bit larger than normal based on entrance activity.


Thanks Nordak. 
Last year the build up of my bees was ahead of schedule. I saw as much as 2 full frames of capped brood in very early March in some colonies. 2015/2016 winter was relatively mild, and so far this winter has been on the mild side.


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## Nordak (Jun 17, 2016)

I went through 7 more hives today, and it was very much a case of extremes. The 6 comb nuc I started seems to be struggling. I'm not sure what's going on with it, but it appears that the late supercedure queen might be failing. My guess is she was never properly mated. Will give them another week before I decide to combine or not. Another hive that seems to be struggling is one that showed PMS signs late last year. The queen appears to be really just now starting to lay, so hoping that will change. 

The other hives I checked are booming. I'll post a couple of pics later, but the Sam Comfort queen I received last year appears to have been an excellent decision. This hive was 75% built before they went into winter. As soon as I pulled the first bar, there was already a good density of bees on the last comb. When I say this hive is strong, It's the strongest hive I've seen coming out of winter ever. I will have to split this one undoubtedly. The daughter I raised from this queen considering how late it was and their resources is also booming. My langstroth medium 8 frame populated with a swarm of unknown origin last year is 3 high and they were rearing brood in the top. The top box was packed with capped brood, so I reversed boxes to give them room overhead. It's packed with bees as well. These are some bees I will want to keep. Very impressive. I checked another daughter hive from my oldest queen and they are right where I thought they would be. I can almost read these bees before I get in the hives as I am so used to working with them. They're very beekeeper friendly bees. I opened up the brood nests on the ones that needed it and consolidated the couple that were struggling. 

In summary, I'm going to watch for signs of swarming and get ready for splits, whether I want them or not. The large amount of drone comb is a sign they have reproduction on their minds. With the exception of a couple of stragglers, this year my bees appear healthier and stronger than ever. I'd like to take credit for that, but it's really just having some great bees to work with that makes the difference. We're off to the races...pretty exciting stuff.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

Nordak said:


> We're off to the races...pretty exciting stuff.


way to go nordak, nice report.


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## missybee (Sep 6, 2014)

We finished our look see today, one of the hives has one full frame of drones. Tons of eggs and brood. At least 5 full frames of brood edge to edge


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## Nordak (Jun 17, 2016)

SP-Thanks. 

Missybee-Sounds like you are well on your way as well.

Here are a few pics:

Scene from the back of the Comfort hive:








More drone comb:








Comfort daughter queen:








Feral daughter queen comb. Nice bee denstiy:


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