# Colony Update here in MA



## Bob J

Have long been a fan of Allen's "Colony update here in PA" and Squarepeg's "2015 Treatment Free Experience" threads and thought it worth while starting a similar thread for experiences a bit further north.... I have two outyards in Marshfield (3 production colonies and 4 nucs) and Needham (2 production colonies and 4 nucs) and plan on moving two hives from Marshfield to my place in Quincy for spring pollination so should be able to give a good running report of what is going on in the greater Boston area here. Nucs are Mike Palmer style split deeps (each with a single deep super) and production colonies are double deeps with a single medium super. All colonies are outfitted with broodminder's for temp/humidity monitoring and I have a scale setup to weigh the production hives. All colonies still are still in winter wrap with Mike Palmer style mouse guards. The weather reported is through my weather station located in Quincy.

Red maples and crocus are blooming (since 7 Mar roughly a month early) and all hives/nucs are bringing in pale and yellow pollen. 

Weather this week has been unseasonably warm with temperatures typically with the lows in the 30-40F range and the highs in the 40-60F range. Rain MTD = .=0.71" and YTD = 6.22". 

Marshfield Outyard - Based on the broodminer readings, two of the 3 Marshfield hives started brooding the third week in Feb with the last one brooding at my last check (13 Mar) after feeding pollen patties. All hives/nucs are being fed fondant and pollen patties and are taking them. Two hives are very large and one is fairly weak. The weak hive was the last to kick off brooding. One nuc is strong and one is weak but both are expected to survive. Hive weights are stable to slightly down from the previous week. 

Needham Outyard - Based on the broodminer readings, both production hives started brooding the third week in Feb. All hives and nucs are being fed fondant and pollen patties and are taking them. One hive is very large and one is fairly average and both are very active. Both nucs are strong. Hive weights are stable to slightly up from the previous week.

I normally check in on my outyards on Sundays so should be able to update early in the following week. This next Sunday is expected to be rain/snow so I may not be able to check in with results next week. (19 Mar)


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## Bob J

Weather this week was seasonal with temperatures typically with the lows ranging from 28-43F and the highs ranging from 36-64F. Rained (cold drizzle) on and off all week. Rain MTD =1.98" and YTD = 7.49". 

Marshfield Outyard - Hive weights were variable with two hives putting on less than a pound each and the remaining one losing 5 pounds. All hives showed much less interest in the fondant. Protein patties were completely consumed and replaced. Bottom boards show lots of cappings, some pollen balls (some greenish and some yellow) and no varroa. 

Needham Outyard - Both hives lost significant weight and are still taking the fondant. One hive lost 20 pounds (! measured twice just to be sure) and the other lost 9 pounds. Like Marshfield both hives completely consumed the protein patty and it was replaced. Will need to make up more patties before next weeks visit. The hive that lost the 20lbs is literally jammed with bees. Bottom boards show the same debris as Marshfield. 

Evaluated a new potential outyard in Rockland. Site is residential and has a small stream nearby. Lots of open fields within a quarter mile or so that hopefully will be decent forage. Plan is to put two of my 4 overwintered nucs into full deeps and add a double nuc when I build nucs this summer. If the site pans out might eventually expand to as many as 4 production hives next year.


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## Bob J

Weather this week was seasonal with temperatures consistent with lows in the 30's (29-43F) and the highs in the 40's (42-49 with one day at 60F). Rained (cold drizzle) on and off all week with measurable rainfall on 3 days. Rain MTD =2.22" and YTD = 7.73". 

Norway Maples are now in bloom and the occasional dandelion survivor is blooming but the dandelion flow looks to be still a few weeks away.

One of my mentees lost his hive this week.... Observed to have activity the previous week.... Upon inspection was clearly PMS with most of the damage done in the fall... Very small cluster (tennis ball sized) and plenty of varroa scat... Looks like they got locked on brood and were not able to move enough to reach their honey and subsequently starved.... Plenty of honey and pollen so will be a boon when he gets a new colony in early may..... 

Was not able to get to my outyards this week due to the holidays. Will update hive status next week....;- )


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## NewbeeInNH

Bob J said:


> One hive lost 20 pounds (! measured twice just to be sure)


This is why I don't think people should be removing the "spare" super of honey that made it through the winter. They can go thru it awfully fast when they start building up in the spring.

What type of bees do you have?


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> This is why I don't think people should be removing the "spare" super of honey that made it through the winter. They can go thru it awfully fast when they start building up in the spring.
> 
> What type of bees do you have?


Carniolan Mutts that I originally got from Full Bloom Apiaries down in Connecticut.... This is one of my monster hives with more bees than I have ever seen in a hive coming out of winter.... All the others are losing a few pounds here and there but this one is clearly very aggressively building up.... Swarm season here usually starts in early May but with the exceptionally warm winter we have had I will really need to stay on top of this one....;- )

This is the trend and you can see how this hive (Hive 3 Needham) really stands out:



Here is the graph of the weekly net change:



BTW the big drop around week 35 was when I extracted. All weights are net which means that I have subtracted the weight of all the woodenware so it should be pretty close to the weight of bees + honey.


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## Bob J

On a related subject here is what I have seen for swarm calls in the last 4 years.... Counts are reported swarms by week to a local beekeeping club forum (NCBA).



Basically where I am the earliest swarms in the past 4 years were in week 17 and 18 and ramping up quickly after that.... Will be interesting to see what this year brings...


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## NewbeeInNH

Great graphs!


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Great graphs!


Thanks! I try and track everything that might have relevance to my colonies.... I try and correlate what my hives are doing with what is blooming as well as the weather.... For example, right now we have the maples coming in which normally I could get a decent flow off of but the weather has been rainy on the warmer days and cold on the others.... Not much chance for the girls to get out....


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## NewbeeInNH

I'm 1.5 hrs. north of you, so your posts are really relevant to my bees.


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## adson

Good info, thanks for sharing.

Are those swarm counts actual calls coming in looking for someone to collect a swarm , 
Or do they include hives in member yards that swarmed .?


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## Bob J

adson said:


> Good info, thanks for sharing.
> 
> Are those swarm counts actual calls coming in looking for someone to collect a swarm ,
> Or do they include hives in member yards that swarmed .?


They are unique sighted swarms mentioned in a post which includes swarms in the poster's yard as well as those sighted elsewhere. It was the best I could come up with to have some sense of when we run into swarms here... Interestingly enough there were no reported fall swarms but again my data source is somewhat subjective. One of the posts was mine where I had a swarm adopt one of my empty deep hive bodies stored in the yard for convenience.... That one was on Mother's day 2012 so it fit well into the emerging pattern that evolved with the other reported swarms....


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## scituatema

Good job Bob.
what we need is some warm days that bees can forage pollen..


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## Bob J

scituatema said:


> Good job Bob.
> what we need is some warm days that bees can forage pollen..


So agree with you on that! Would be nice to be able to take advantage of the maple flow as well!


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## Bob J

Weather this week was all over the place with low temperatures ranging from 33F to 69F and the highs ranging from 47F to 70F. Had measurable rainfall on 3 days. Rain Month to date (April) MTD =0.36" and YTD = 8.43". Wind has been very high for a number of days. Another week without any significant opportunity for the girls to forage despite the warmer temps. 

All hives but one continued to lose weight with most in the 6 to 8 pound range. Girls are definitely hungry and blew through an amazing amount of fondant and protein patties. Was able to replenish everything before the first of two late season snow storms hit yesterday with the second accumulating as I type. Lots of capping debris on the bottom boards with bands of light yellow and olive drab pollen. No sign of varroa. 

Early Saturday moved my weakest and strongest hives from the Marshfield Outyard to my backyard to pollinate my fruit trees. The move was fairly uneventful even though it was cool (40F) and rainy. Worked out well as all the foragers were still in the hive. Before screening the upper and lower entrances, took this opportunity to remove my winter wrap (tar paper) and mouse guard. The winter feeding/insulation shim is still in place.

All my fruit trees are budding roughly 4 weeks early so am hoping that they will not be damaged by the current weather. Looking at 4 days now with highs mostly down in the 30's and lows back in the 20's. This will be tough on the girls as there is a significant amount of brood to keep warm and they could lock up on the brood. Keeping my fingers crossed that all my colonies come though.


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## NewbeeInNH

Great commentary, Bob. This might also be useful next year when you want to look back and compare seasons.

Do you think you removed your wrap too early?

I had pollen coming in on... I think it was Friday. Very pale yellow but the leg pouches looked like they were going to burst. Right now they are sitting in their hives sketching out their swarm plans. Little do they suspect that I have plans of my own.

Sitting in the snow globe right now, waiting for the polar bears to take their vortex and go home. This is why I have 4WD.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Great commentary, Bob. This might also be useful next year when you want to look back and compare seasons.
> 
> Do you think you removed your wrap too early?
> 
> I had pollen coming in on... I think it was Friday. Very pale yellow but the leg pouches looked like they were going to burst. Right now they are sitting in their hives sketching out their swarm plans. Little do they suspect that I have plans of my own.
> 
> Sitting in the snow globe right now, waiting for the polar bears to take their vortex and go home. This is why I have 4WD.


I really don't think it's too early.... I saw a study somewhere where someone took empty hive bodies and wrapped some and left some others unwrapped in the sun and then compared the internal temperatures over a number of cold days.... The results indicated that there was no significant difference... I am more of the thought that the wrap provides an additional wind barrier as well as warms the area near the upper entrance.... This in theory gives the girls a chance on sunny windless days to take a quick poop break in the dead of winter.... I have seen a number of studies looking at wrapped vs unwrapped hive winter survivability and there does not seem to be a big impact one way or the other.... Am not sure what the truth is but whether it helps or not at least there is no evidence that it hurts so in my book it's worth it to take any opportunity to help them get through our crazy winters.... 

Anyhoo, figured this was a good time to unwrap as it made screening the entrances much cleaner... My Needham hives are still wrapped and will stay that way until I do my first detailed hive dive hopefully in the next week or two...


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## NewbeeInNH

I just saw you're in zone 7a. Only 1.5 hrs. from you (I figure), I'm in 5b. Probably makes a difference.


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## Fuzzymiss9

I'm in the North Shore, have one overwintered hive of Carniolian Mutts with a queen from Plymouth County Beeks queen rearing initiative. I started with a package last year. Still have the winter wraps on, have sugar bricks on top too. Bees were flying last week when it was 50F+ and bringing in yellow pollen like crazy. Maples and willows are blooming, croci finished last week. 4 inches of snow over the past few days=not impressed! Wondering when to unwrap and get them going, there are a few dandelions peeking out in the yard now...


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## Bob J

Fuzzymiss9 said:


> I'm in the North Shore, have one overwintered hive of Carniolian Mutts with a queen from Plymouth County Beeks queen rearing initiative. I started with a package last year. Still have the winter wraps on, have sugar bricks on top too. Bees were flying last week when it was 50F+ and bringing in yellow pollen like crazy. Maples and willows are blooming, croci finished last week. 4 inches of snow over the past few days=not impressed! Wondering when to unwrap and get them going, there are a few dandelions peeking out in the yard now...


And there are more snow showers predicted for this weekend..... What a crazy spring!


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## Bob J

Weather this week continued to be dismal for the girls.... 4 days out of 7 had measureable rain and those were the only days with temperatures out of the 40's. Low temperatures ranging from 24F to 43F and the highs ranging from 31F to 60F. Rain Month to date (April) MTD =2.14" and YTD = 10.21". Wind has been very high for a number of days. 

Hive weight changes from last week ranged from -13.4 to +2.1 lbs. Girls continue to consume just about everything I give them (fondant/protein). No sign of varroa. On the rare days they were able to safely get out they are heavily foraging water and pale yellow pollen.

The first dandelions are just starting to bloom and all of the fruit trees in my yard (apples, cherries, peaches and pears) are almost to bud break. Hopefully we will get some decent weather when the bloom starts.

Hive temperatures show strong brooding in all of the production hives. One nuc is showing temperatures just above ambient so I may have lost them to this latest cold spell. The other three nucs are strong.


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## Sunday Farmer

NewbeeInNH said:


> I just saw you're in zone 7a. Only 1.5 hrs. from you (I figure), I'm in 5b. Probably makes a difference.


Yea. I'm in Hadley, MA and Salisbury, NH. Huge difference between the two


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## Bob J

Both hives in my home yard had a large amount of new bees orienting this afternoon.... First day I've seen them this season... Looks like the first wave of brood is out and about...;- )


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## NewbeeInNH

Bob J said:


> Both hives in my home yard had a large amount of new bees orienting this afternoon.... First day I've seen them this season... Looks like the first wave of brood is out and about...;- )


I started another thread earlier today, I had a very large mass of bees on the front of my hive today, I was sure they were getting ready to swarm. Tomorrow it's raining but Wednesday I'm going in.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> I started another thread earlier today, I had a very large mass of bees on the front of my hive today, I was sure they were getting ready to swarm. Tomorrow it's raining but Wednesday I'm going in.


I have yet to see mature drones and my hive weights are still dropping so too early for a swarm where I am.... Are you seeing mature drones? OTOH the first dandelions are blooming and the fruit trees are not far off so I'm going to need to super soon....


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## NewbeeInNH

Well, got a report on that other thread from someone who lives the next county from me who has drone brood and swarm cells! Probably depends on the colony itself, but most of my queens are entering their 2nd year and that's prime swarm time so I am really on guard. No dandelions here at all, and I haven't been in my hives yet, too chilly, but tomorrow I'm looking.


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## Pearl

NewbeeInNH said:


> Well, got a report on that other thread from someone who lives the next county from me who has drone brood and swarm cells! Probably depends on the colony itself, but most of my queens are entering their 2nd year and that's prime swarm time so I am really on guard. No dandelions here at all, and I haven't been in my hives yet, too chilly, but tomorrow I'm looking.


I am in Andover MA. I have drone in all of my 4 hives - a lot of them. One hive has swarm cells already. I plan to check on the others tomorrow when I rain stops. Second year here, and things are not getting any easier for me.


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## camero7

I'd bet some of those swarm cells are supercedure cells. Been too cold, rainy and windy for bees to swarm here.


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## Pearl

camero7 said:


> I'd bet some of those swarm cells are supercedure cells. Been too cold, rainy and windy for bees to swarm here.


I thought of that too. But in panic, I destroyed the queen cell.

How to tell if the queen cell is a supercedure cell? Some people said it based on the persition of the cells, and also the number of the cells presented. My case is the cells were on the lower and middle part of the frame( swarm cell?), but the number of the cells wasn't big, 6-8, and one had larva in pool of loyal jelly, and one had egg. The others were empty cups( supercedure?). I am really confused and know know what to do next.


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## camero7

Swarm prep includes being crowded, none of mine at at this point, and backfilling the brood nest with honey. Bees haven't been able to fly for several days, so they certainly are not backfilling the brood nest. Also, in only 2 were laid in and the rest were cell cups, doubtful they are in swarm prep. When the hive is busting with bees and the brood nest is full of nectar, that's the time to worry about swarming.


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## NewbeeInNH

Went thru 3 of my hives so far (what a nice day) and no signs of swarming at all, so so far, so good. I reversed the boxes and did some checkerboarding and styrofoam boarded them back up for another couple weeks.

I saw some capped drone cells, but no frames of drone brood yet, and I didn't see any drones.


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## camero7

IMO you guys are too fixated on swarming... there are about 3 weeks to swarm season. Dandelions aren't even in bloom yet.


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## NewbeeInNH

Never met a spring bee I could trust.


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## Pearl

camero7 said:


> IMO you guys are too fixated on swarming... there are about 3 weeks to swarm season. Dandelions aren't even in bloom yet.


You are right. I now believe what I have destroyed were supercedure cells. Poor bees, I should have just leave them alone.


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## Fuzzymiss9

I saw the first drone of spring today! Dandelions are in bloom all over my yard. I'm going in this weekend, also have a group of bee school students coming over to watch. Gotta play it cool-think I might have bit off more than I can chew!


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## camero7

Flying drones, a lot of pollen, big orientation flights, dandelions popping ouit and nectar coming in... I'd say IT'S ON!


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## camero7

Pearl said:


> You are right. I now believe what I have destroyed were supercedure cells. Poor bees, I should have just leave them alone.


Pearl, if they still have a queen they'll make more. This weekend check for the queen and if you don't see her look for eggs. That will tell you if she's there. If they are queenless, order a queen.


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## clyderoad

camero7 said:


> Flying drones, a lot of pollen, big orientation flights, dandelions popping ouit and nectar coming in... I'd say IT'S ON!


Don't want to barge in on the MA thread so just a question-
Did you happen to look at the brood nest and notice if the queen shut down during the last 2 weeks of miserable weather?

here on LI I was in the brood nest of all hives in one yard a couple of days before the weather got bad. Had 5-7 frames of brood
in each hive. Got in the same hives yesterday and all that brood has emerged so there are lots of bees, but very limited capped brood. There are some larvae and eggs, plenty of stores, found the queens in all hives to requeen them and start nucs with the old queens.
Looks like the queens shut down for nearly 2 weeks. Wondering if anyone else has seen this.
Need to check a few yards tomorrow that are within 5 or 6 miles from this yard and I'm curious to see the brood nests in those hives.


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## camero7

No, I was setting up hives for the packages on the way and was observing the hives. Wouldn't be surprised if that happened here too. Still a little cool to get into the brood chamber IMO. I like it over 60°F


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## clyderoad

Thanks Cam.
A abnormally warm month of March followed by 2 weeks of junk weather put
the brakes on any sustained early brood buildup.


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## camero7

I agree, but going to be in the 70's this weekend. they will catch up fast.


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## wildbranch2007

clyderoad said:


> Don't want to barge in on the MA thread so just a question-
> Did you happen to look at the brood nest and notice if the queen shut down during the last 2 weeks of miserable weather?


went through about 20 hives and 10 nucs, pretty much all of the queens shut down for the 2 weeks. capped brood was present but the queen had just started laying eggs, no or little lava was present. the amount of bees in the hives was only slightly more than two weeks ago.


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## clyderoad

Thank you Mike.
Boxes full of March bees and no new ones to speak of for 20 days.
From the top of the frames you'd think the hive was a boomer but one look
at the brood frames 
Apple pollination coming in a couple/few weeks, should be interesting.

The minutemen are probably getting impatient with me so I'll bow out now.
Thanks again you guys.


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## camero7

I will be going through all my hives Sunday and Monday... should be interesting. Had a large hatch of drones the last 2 days, judging by the entrances. Lots of pollen coming in the last few days... should keep it up from now on. Bears will be out, check your fences.


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## camero7

I was in my hives today Clyde and saw exactly what you describe. I will be in another yard tomorrow but expect to see the same thing.


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## deknow

I saw a lot more capped brood than freshly laid for the past few weeks, bit it looks to be turning around.


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## camero7

I agree, this 70° weather will have those queens pumping eggs.


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## deknow

More specifically, I didn't see a 20 day shutdown, but maybe 10.


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## Fuzzymiss9

Went in my hive today and flipped the boxes. Had 5 bee school students with me, thankfully as I couldn't lift the top box so appreciated the help. My bees were mad from the get go and formed a huge cloud all over. Everyone got stung several times and we got chased into the house, bees in my hair, in my husband's shoes. Awful experience! Not sure why they were so pissy!!


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## camero7

next time try a smoker, wear a veil and take it slow. I got no stings today, no gloves. but I did have a veiled jacket on. worked several hives. They were "pissy" because you weren't ready for them. Bees were very calm today, considering I moved several from 5 frame nucs to 10 frame boxes, most of those 5 framers were 2 story and it meant breaking up brood nests and moving lots of bees. No stings.


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## Fuzzymiss9

Believe me I always do-no way would I ever go into a hive without a full suit on. The moment I popped the top they were at me in a huge cloud, there were a lot of bees in there, wonder why they were so defensive today-skunks..no food..other? Every time I tried to come out of the house, there were guards waiting for me for at least 2 hours. Guess I gave the students a lesson that bees aren't always nice and gentle...sigh


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## camero7

so how did bees get in your hair, if you were fully suited? did you smoke them a little before popping the top? There must have been something. I've always had at least 15 hives by my back door and never had that problem. Did have one hive that went queenless on summer and met me at the truck door when I pulled into the yard. Gave it a queen and it was fine. Maybe this hive is queenless?


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## deknow

I'll be doing inspections of my hives in the Fenway Victory Garden (Boston) about noon on Wednesday. This is a teaching apiary, and I encourage people to come along.


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## Fuzzymiss9

This was after we closed up the hive, there were several persistent guard bees attacking everyone in the yard. I took my protection off away from the hive and they just wouldn't quit. Then my son got stung, we were chased into the house. Maybe it was something someone was wearing or a scent they had on? I've never had a colony take off in such large numbers like that. It was a calm sunny day, temps in the high 50s. The whole hive was covered in bees, it was very scary. I don't think they are queenless, I saw some burr comb with grubs in, and they're bringing in pollen. Couldn't get at the frames to look today and I'm not keen on going back in anytime soon.


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## clyderoad

Fuzzymiss9 said:


> Guess I gave the students a lesson that bees aren't always nice and gentle...sigh


Gave yourself a little lesson too, it sounds like.
Are you the students mentor?


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## Fuzzymiss9

Ha! No I'm in my second year. I offered to help out my club as they were low in hive openings this year. So glad I wasn't by myself today!


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## NewbeeInNH

Fuzzy, smokers level all playing fields. 

Russian hybrid queens are known for sometimes being grouchy. Last summer I had a hive I couldn't touch with a 10 foot pole. But if you smoke them, you, and even around the outside of the hive, it should keep them from being scary aggressive. It could have been they're insecure about getting their spring colony ramped up, who knows. Another thing I wonder about when a hive is overly aggressive when I'm working them is whether I've hurt/lost the queen and they know it and I don't. I hope your queen is okay.


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## Fuzzymiss9

I think she is, this was the first time I went in since last fall. On somber reflection I think the wind was blowing the smoke away from the hive and I couldn't see as I was wearing sunglasses. Not going to wear them again!! By the time I noticed the alarm had been tripped. My yard did calm down a couple of hours later, we were able to go back outside and grill so not all was lost!


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## camero7

I was in my hives in an outyard yesterday and a few supers are already pretty full of that light spring honey [which some call dandelion honey].


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## deknow

Yes, they are filling everything up with nectar.


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## deknow

Cam, I was also seeing some greenish nectar that I don't think was loostrife being uncapped from the fall...any ideas?


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## wildbranch2007

deknow said:


> Cam, I was also seeing some greenish nectar that I don't think was loostrife being uncapped from the fall...any ideas?


they probably got into some of the green beer left over from st Pats. day


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## camero7

Mike makes as much sense as I can I have no idea. Mine are all white honey so far.


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## toekneepea

deknow said:


> Cam, I was also seeing some greenish nectar that I don't think was loostrife being uncapped from the fall...any ideas?


Saw some of that in the fall, I thought green nectar was Japanese Knotweed - don't know if that blooms now, or if it's something else.

Tony P.


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## deknow

No, it is the purple.loostrife that is green in the fall...I'm 5 hiking this must be honey they were uncapping. Antifreeze is always a disturbing positivity that I try to look out for.


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## camero7

never thought of antifreeze. that would be disturbing...


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## AAIndigo

First split of the year and for me today. Went through my buddies hive (housed on my property) and found a most fully formed and closed queen cell. Picture perfect - straight out of a text book. Pulled the queen and started a nuc. Will check the original hive in 20 days for a laying queen.

I had some blue pollen coming in last week.


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## Scitfrostbite

AAIndigo- did the hive with the q-cell have the deeps reversed or supers put on before this? Any indication that this was coming? Thanks


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## AAIndigo

Scitfrostbite said:


> AAIndigo- did the hive with the q-cell have the deeps reversed or supers put on before this? Any indication that this was coming? Thanks


So this was my friends hive and I have been hands off on it but he asked me look at it with him. This was a package that we installed on 3/28. We separated a dead-out from last year and started 2 packages. 1 deep box with honey, drawn foundation, and foundation. Lots of Bees, package came with lots of drones. There were a few other queen cells in the early stage but not as lovely as the one that was capped. Lots of room for the queen to lay. We have sugar water on so they can build out the foundation. Brood pattern a bit spotty but she was laying.

My have (the other of the two) Is going gang busters. Queen is a laying machine hope to be adding a second super on next weekend


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## Bob J

What a difference a week makes! Weather has been nice (finally!) with week 15 high of 81 and a low of 42 with two days of measurable rain. Week 16 had a high of 65 and a low of 39, also with two days of measurable rain. YTD rain is 10.53" and we have 2.46" of rain so far this month.

Did a full inspection before leaving for a week of vacation and again this last weekend... Mature drones are flying but there are no swarm cells in any hives yet. Found I had lost two nucs.... One due to mites (small cluster locked on brood) and one due to my stupidity. I use Mike Palmer style nucs (4 over 4) and used a winter shim that did not have a divider to keep the sides separate allowing one side to take over the other.... Moved both surviving nucs to 10 frame deeps to give them space to build up.... All hives but my weakest are putting on weight..... Peaches, Anjou Pears, Crab Apple, Liberty Apple, Damson Plums and sweet cherries are all blooming and the girls are taking full advantage.... 

Was tempted to combine my weak hive with one of my strong ones but have decided to wait a bit and see if they recover.... Queen is laying spotty and there was signs of chalkbrood.... Gave her a couple of frames of brood from my strongest hive which should help but will have to see.... Supered up all the hives (2 supers each) with the exception of the one weak hive so hopefully will give them enough space to forestall swarming...

One apiary in the town over (Braintree) has already had two swarms in his yard so I really need to keep a close eye on things.....

Sure is nice to see the sun! ;- )


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## NewbeeInNH

Your info is really helpful because it alerts me to what is coming a week or 2 down the road.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Your info is really helpful because it alerts me to what is coming a week or 2 down the road.


Thanks! It might be good to calibrate the actual delay based on what is blooming.... I've been posting just the stuff I actually see bees foraging in the "Massachusetts" section of the blooming forum and my posts there go back more than a year.... Same basic idea as I am trying to do here where you have a single thread where you can not only see what is going on with your local neighbors but also compare year on year.... I keep all these records anyway but it's always good to see what others are seeing in the state....


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## camero7

I'd say we're about a week behind you in bloom here in central MA


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## Bob J

Was a good week for my colonies... Temperatures saw a daytime high ranging from 53 to 62 with the nighttime lows from 37 to 44F. Measurable rain on two days with the YTD rainfall at 10.88" and the Month at 2.75". Strawberries, blueberries and the Anjou pear are blooming and the apple tree is loaded with foraging bees. All hives except for the one weak hive are putting on weight ranging from 3 to 8 pounds for the week. The nucs were busting at the seams so moved them to full 10 frame deeps. Supered up all the production hives so the girls should have plenty of room. All hives except for the weak one have cups but no queen cells or eggs yet. Lots of bees now are foraging the birdbaths which I have to refill daily. Have decided that enough is enough on the weak hive so will be ordering a new queen and hopefully will be able to requeen before next weekend.


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## NewbeeInNH

Rain in the forecast for the next entire week basically. This is going to seriously impede their nectar/pollen foraging. I'm thinking of putting some sugar bricks and pollen patties back into the hives for this week. I'm worried about a dearth of supplies just when they're rearing a lot of brood.

We are SO behind you, it's amazing. Strawberry blossoms? Already? Maybe mine are a different variety, they don't blossom until June I don't think. Altho I did notice pink buds on the blueberry bushes.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Rain in the forecast for the next entire week basically. This is going to seriously impede their nectar/pollen foraging. I'm thinking of putting some sugar bricks and pollen patties back into the hives for this week. I'm worried about a dearth of supplies just when they're rearing a lot of brood.
> 
> We are SO behind you, it's amazing. Strawberry blossoms? Already? Maybe mine are a different variety, they don't blossom until June I don't think. Altho I did notice pink buds on the blueberry bushes.


Same thing here.... The entire week forecast had a probability of rain every day through the weekend.... Strawberries surprised me as well.... Last year they bloomed on the 11th and the year before on the 14th.... Everything continues to be early this year.... Not sure what kind of strawberries as my patch is volunteers that have been there for the past 20 years so are well beyond my current memory....;- )


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## Scitfrostbite

We are several weeks behind Quincy as we are 45min due west of Boston away from the coast. No apple or strawberry blooms yet. Only Mon, Tues, and Fri have rain forecast with percentages above 50% so I'm figuring for several nice days here.

I haven't thought about feeding this week but interesting idea. Would you put a patty and thin sugar brick between deep and supers? Or, on top of supers?

Thanks


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## NewbeeInNH

Scitfrostbite said:


> Only Mon, Tues, and Fri have rain forecast with percentages above 50% so I'm figuring for several nice days here.


Wow. You are one of those glass-half-full people.  



> I haven't thought about feeding this week but interesting idea. Would you put a patty and thin sugar brick between deep and supers? Or, on top of supers?
> 
> Thanks


Right in the inner cover; I have the Brushy Mountain wintering inner cover type that has like 1" of space or so for patties. I know they like pollen patties right next to the brood, but I'm figuring if they're that desperate, they can climb up and get it. At least maybe it'll keep em busy.


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## camero7

Interesting find the other day. Had an overwintered hive that I thought the queen was a dud, almost no brood and few eggs a week ago. I was going to pinch her and combine with another hive. Pulled some frames last Sunday and they were laid wall to wall. Sometimes you just never know. She's one of Full Bloom's queens and was pretty good building up from a split in July so I was surprised at no production. I really have had good success with Alan's queens and she is turning out the be another one.


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## Bob J

camero7 said:


> Interesting find the other day. Had an overwintered hive that I thought the queen was a dud, almost no brood and few eggs a week ago. I was going to pinch her and combine with another hive. Pulled some frames last Sunday and they were laid wall to wall. Sometimes you just never know. She's one of Full Bloom's queens and was pretty good building up from a split in July so I was surprised at no production. I really have had good success with Alan's queens and she is turning out the be another one.


I have 4 hives that I built up out of Alan's nucs last year.... Mine are great bees as well....

Drove up to Mike Palmer's place yesterday to pick up 4 nucs.... Left at 2AM to be able to get in by 7AM.... 5 hours on the road one way certainly made for a long day! Driving back with all the windows down in the cold and rain was certainly an interesting experience. Two are going to friends of mine and the other two are set up in my yard in Quincy.... Knowing Mike's work on improving the survivor genetics I consider the trip worth every mile....

Ordering a new queen for my weak hive this morning from Olivarez.... Now if only the weather will give us a break....;- )


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## NewbeeInNH

Bob J said:


> I have 4 hives that I built up out of Alan's nucs last year.... Mine are great bees as well....
> 
> Drove up to Mike Palmer's place yesterday to pick up 4 nucs.... Left at 2AM to be able to get in by 7AM.... 5 hours on the road one way certainly made for a long day! Driving back with all the windows down in the cold and rain was certainly an interesting experience. Two are going to friends of mine and the other two are set up in my yard in Quincy.... Knowing Mike's work on improving the survivor genetics I consider the trip worth every mile....
> 
> Ordering a new queen for my weak hive this morning from Olivarez.... Now if only the weather will give us a break....;- )


Wow! It sure would be great to have a Palmer Distributor in this area. 

BTW, locally I've seen signs in two front yards from a local sprayer: Mosquitoes Gone! I read them as: Bees Gone! I just noticed a pile of about 20 dead bees on top of the cover of my best hive, so now I'm a little paranoid.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Wow! It sure would be great to have a Palmer Distributor in this area. .


Agreed it would have certainly saved me some gas and time.....;- ) Will be making nucs again this summer so hopefully will be able to stop having to buy bees.....;- ) 



NewbeeInNH said:


> BTW, locally I've seen signs in two front yards from a local sprayer: Mosquitoes Gone! I read them as: Bees Gone! I just noticed a pile of about 20 dead bees on top of the cover of my best hive, so now I'm a little paranoid.


Crap! Not a good sign! Good luck!


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## deknow

Mike has great bees and is a great beekeeper. ...but I'm confused as to the meaning of 'survivor genetics' in your description.


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## Bob J

deknow said:


> Mike has great bees and is a great beekeeper. ...but I'm confused as to the meaning of 'survivor genetics' in your description.


Mike is a firm believer in winter being the "great selector" for survivor bees here in the northeast.... Being just over the border with Canada means that his winters are much longer and harsher than most of the rest of the region.... He also is the source and primary proponent of the sustainable apiary so he does not purchase queens or other bees and raises all he needs from his own stock.... Having done this for many years his bee genetics are generally considered to be some of the best around if you want bees that are able to survive here in the frozen north....

Wintering-Nucs


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## NewbeeInNH

Could a Vermont bee ever be happy in New Hampshire? I don't know.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Could a Vermont bee ever be happy in New Hampshire? I don't know.


LOL! It certainly is something to consider....;- )


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## NewbeeInNH

I could stick some Coexist and Bernie bumper stickers on my hives. That might make them feel more at home.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> I could stick some Coexist and Bernie bumper stickers on my hives. That might make them feel more at home.


The would feel the Bern....;- )


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## wildbranch2007

NewbeeInNH said:


> BTW, locally I've seen signs in two front yards from a local sprayer: Mosquitoes Gone! I read them as: Bees Gone! I just noticed a pile of about 20 dead bees on top of the cover of my best hive, so now I'm a little paranoid.


one recommendation, most states have a core pesticide applicators lic. I would see if I could get copies of the books and read up on it, most of these people don't follow the rules and you can at least get their attention, when you sick the pesticide police on them, they really don't like to lose their lic.


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## deknow

The situation in Massachusetts is that there is almost never an investigation when improper use/pesticide poisoning occurs, and when there is, the state imposes zero penalty or fines. ...business as usual, and no one is nervous about being busted, because there are no penalties.


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## NewbeeInNH

Well, can you believe this. You wait all winter for dandelions to appear, and there they sit, shriveled in the rain for... how long has it been raining? Not just raining, but cold.

I did put sugar slabs and pollen patties back in the hives. Back to winter. We're losing valuable time, right at a critical period.


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## Sunday Farmer

deknow said:


> Mike has great bees and is a great beekeeper. ...but I'm confused as to the meaning of 'survivor genetics' in your description.


Dunno. But they survive. All of them. See his numbers?


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## Sunday Farmer

NewbeeInNH said:


> Could a Vermont bee ever be happy in New Hampshire? I don't know.


No. But a granite stater can be happy in VT.


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## Sunday Farmer

NewbeeInNH said:


> Could a Vermont bee ever be happy in New Hampshire? I don't know.


No. But a granite stater can be happy in VT.


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## Bob J

Miserable weather..... Installed my nucs Wed and was amazed how many frames of brood..... 4 of the 5 frames were wall to wall both sides with only a single frame of honey/pollen.... Glad I didn't wait until better weather! Feeder cans are on and debated putting on the pollen patties but decided not to.... The pollen patties I pulled off a few weeks ago were heavy with wax moth maggots so am reluctant at this time of year to put them back on... Hopefully we will get a break in the weather soon.... Apple blossoms are starting to drop so not much time left....


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## Scitfrostbite

Is anyone seeing any honey in the supers yet? Nothing here in Metrowest. Flow next to nothing so far.


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## clyderoad

Scitfrostbite>> not in MA but nothing on Long Island. In fact most are light. March brood and bees ate much of the stores up during
April and this miserable early May. Looks like anything that is being collected is being used right up in most hives. Really need good weather and soon.


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## NewbeeInNH

Flow WOULD be there if it would just stop darn raining and being dismal and cool all the time. The dandelions are just waiting for the pollinators. Everything is in place. Adding insult to injury, we're projected in the 30s tonight and tomorrow night.

The good news is the next four days are supposed to be sunny!!!!!!!! Watch out for flight patterns then, because I have a feeling it's going to be a foraging frenzy.


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## wildbranch2007

deknow said:


> The situation in Massachusetts is that there is almost never an investigation when improper use/pesticide poisoning occurs, and when there is, the state imposes zero penalty or fines. ...business as usual, and no one is nervous about being busted, because there are no penalties.


things sure have changed, I managed to get the apple orchard I was having a problem with in Mass. busted a couple of time, 20 years ago though. One thing I did find, if you also have a pesticide lic. and know the laws, they take you a lot more serious.


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## Scitfrostbite

Forecast says any minute now the sun will be back...


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## wildbranch2007

Scitfrostbite said:


> Forecast says any minute now the sun will be back...


now you get a glimpse of central NY weather around Syracuse, since I've lived here, I started purchasing only queens from the North West, that like to fly in the cold and rain


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## camero7

Scitfrostbite said:


> Is anyone seeing any honey in the supers yet? Nothing here in Metrowest. Flow next to nothing so far.



Before this rain I had some supers almost full. Don't know if they ate it all this last week. I'll be in them this week to see.


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## Sunday Farmer

camero7 said:


> Before this rain I had some supers almost full. Don't know if they ate it all this last week. I'll be in them this week to see.


Picking up nucs supered in Hadley. Heavy


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## Bob J

What a horrible week for the girls! Weather has cold and rainy all week with highs ranging from 47-61 and lows from 44-47. Measurable rain for all 7 days. YTD rain is 11.87" and we have 1.05" of rain so far this month (May).

Bees tried to forage on the few times they had a brief break but overall it was a lost week. Too bad since there is so much blooming... Hive weights in all outyards stayed static with weights varying within a pound of last weeks readings... This week is projected to be sunny and warm (60's!) for the full week with the only forecast rain coming next Saturday... Hopefully will give the girls a chance to catch up....

Several swarms reported in Braintree and Needham so we are definitely in the season....;- )


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## deknow

I was on the roof of the Lenox Hotel yesterday (next door to the Boston Public Library) late afternoon (about 5, after the sun came out)....lots of pollen. Coming in.

I saw a few trees blooming in the public garden this morning, but only a couple with bees on them.


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## camero7

Working the dandelions pretty hard here today and on a couple of blooming trees. Lots of pollen coming in here too. Packages are doing well. Will check supers in my yards tomorrow.


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## Bob J

So cool to be standing under my apple tree and literally hearing it buzz with all the activity.... Girls are certainly making the best of the situation now that the weather is behaving.... With luck this will be a good week.....


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## Bob J

Looks like swarm season has really been unleashed by the nice weather we are currently having.... Numerous swarms being reported all over the region with one member reporting 8 from his own apiary....

The nucs (Mike Palmer Bees) I installed last week have built out the first deep.... Added the second deep of foundation last night.... These girls really don't mess around!


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## NewbeeInNH

I'm checking my hives today. A lot can happen in two weeks, altho you wouldn't think they'd have enough stores to want to swarm after the past couple weeks.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> I'm checking my hives today. A lot can happen in two weeks, altho you wouldn't think they'd have enough stores to want to swarm after the past couple weeks.


I know..... I think this is just the pent up demand from all the lousy weather we had last week... One of my mentees had a swarm call last week from a local homeowner who said the swarm had been in her tree for 5 rainy days.... Bet those girls are glad to be in a nice warm and secure hive now!

Checking my hives weekly and so far (fingers crossed) all I've seen are cups....;- )

My two monster hives are really my biggest concern.... One is currently in my yard and the other is at the Needham site.... I've made sure they have plenty of room to expand but man are they strong!


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## Scitfrostbite

Inspected hive three days ago in Metrowest. Found some capped q-cells, made splits.

Another local beek found 12 capped q-cells in one hive last week.


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## NewbeeInNH

I didn't find any queen cells in my hives today. I'm down to four, the laying worker hive is still a laying worker hive (only scattered drone brood) even after I put in 3 frames of open brood over the course of 2 weeks. Advice: Forget trying to revive a laying worker hive, it's not worth it. I took out 2 frames that had drone brood on them and just laid them on the ground. I don't want any more drones hatching and bringing mites to my other hives. 

Some nice brood in the other hives, fresh nectar in some of the frames, plenty of pollen and stores still in the hives. I added a box onto 3 hives. 

I'll check them again next week.


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## toekneepea

camero7 said:


> Working the dandelions pretty hard here today and on a couple of blooming trees. Lots of pollen coming in here too. Packages are doing well. Will check supers in my yards tomorrow.


Cam, I can't believe the Dandelions have been out for a month! My bees are bringing in the orange Dandelion pollen too. Along with off-white, dull-yellow and bright yellow.

Tony


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## camero7

supers were almost full. Put another one on them. Dandelions are almost done. Many starting to seed. Apple orchard in W Brookfield in full bloom


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## Pearl

Scitfrostbite said:


> Inspected hive three days ago in Metrowest. Found some capped q-cells, made splits.
> 
> Another local beek found 12 capped q-cells in one hive last week.


From what I have learned from books, once the bees capped the queen cell, they will swarm, and will definitely swarm even if you made a split. Is it so? New beek here, all of my knowledge are from the books and this forum. I could understand it wrong. Did you do some kind of artificial swarm or just split?


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## Scitfrostbite

Pearl said:


> From what I have learned from books, once the bees capped the queen cell, they will swarm, and will definitely swarm even if you made a split. Is it so? New beek here, all of my knowledge are from the books and this forum. I could understand it wrong. Did you do some kind of artificial swarm or just split?


Hopefully no swarm, will know soon though. I don't think every time you have a capped q-cell, a swarm is automatic... but there are far more experienced beeks on this forum that know better than me.


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## Scitfrostbite

Pearl said:


> From what I have learned from books, once the bees capped the queen cell, they will swarm, and will definitely swarm even if you made a split. Is it so? New beek here, all of my knowledge are from the books and this forum. I could understand it wrong. Did you do some kind of artificial swarm or just split?


Pearl-- here's your answer. That hive swarmed today. Luckily I caught it and made up a new hive.


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## Pearl

Scitfrostbite said:


> Pearl-- here's your answer. That hive swarmed today. Luckily I caught it and made up a new hive.
> View attachment 24659
> View attachment 24660


Wow, that is a big swarm! I am glad you caught them!


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## Bob J

What a difference a week makes! Weather has warm and sunny almost all week with highs ranging from 61 to 79 and nighttime lows from 46 to 58. Measurable rain for 2 days. YTD rain is 12.04" and we have 1.22" of rain so far this month (May).

Horse chestnut and big leaf maple are now blooming! 

Significant flow is now on! All hive weights jumped ranging from 17.6 to 36.2 pounds! Inspection still showed lots of cups but no cells. Swarms reported all over the local area but thankfully no signs of anything yet in my yards. Weight is almost all nectar with very little new capped honey as of yet.

The weak hive that I requeened did not take. Inspection showed only capped brood with no eggs or larva. Rather than take a chance with getting a laying worker situation I'll recombine with the nuc that I split. 

Moved the outyard from Marshfield to the new Rockland site. I have high hopes for this site as it is in close proximity to roughly a square mile of open unmanaged fields with lots of wildflowers. Will move two hives from my Quincy yard back to Marshfield at the end of the month after the homeowner has a chance to complete some site work (installing sprinklers etc). Move was fairly uneventful with the help of my oldest son.


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## clyderoad

Enjoy your reports Bob.
horse chestnut blooming here as well, reddish pollen looks like the flavor of the week!


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## Bob J

clyderoad said:


> Enjoy your reports Bob.
> horse chestnut blooming here as well, reddish pollen looks like the flavor of the week!


Thanks! I track all of this detail anyway in my notes but was hoping that this information would also be of benefit to folks in the region....;- )


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## kaizen

I thought I would be able to time my stuff off your reports. I'm only 30 min north. But so far i'm amazed at the difference. I saw almost no dandelion and at my biggest yard spent 10 min walking through 200 square yards of it in full bloom and saw very few bees. just strange. The guys to the west in NY and MPalmer up in the north had it but for some reason my area was different. Very cool you are taking the time to post this info


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## NewbeeInNH

Yup. I'm crossing my fingers that your jump in flow activity weight will hit this area next week.


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## Bob J

I guess as has often been said, "All beekeeping is local!".... I live on the coast and work in Foxboro which is only 25 miles or so inland and am still amazed at the temperature and overall weather differences I see during my daily commutes.... The ocean has a huge moderating effect on the coastal sites that you just don't see a few miles inland.... I also see differences in what is going on in my various outyards but thankfully it all seems to even out on a week to week basis.... Hopefully at least what I am seeing can give you some sense of what is coming your way in the near future....


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## NewbeeInNH

Okay, I went into my hives today. I'm down to 4, which is a nice number, altho I'm planning on making several splits this summer. 

Not seeing a lot of nectar collection yet, but I am seeing a big surge in brood. This is good because the baby wax makers/comb builders will help me build up many, many foundationless frames. Young bees, warm weather, wax.

One hive now has 8 medium boxes - like Jack and the Beanstalk. With all 4 of my hives, I am adding boxes by pulling comb and honey frames out of the lower boxes and putting some in new boxes to add on top. So my hives are pretty well checkerboarded. I'm putting a lot of extra room on there because it's spring flow time, and This. Is. It. So all 4 hives got an extra box today.

I want to make splits, and have 5 double nucs out there waiting, but am holding off until the mother hives get really well established. I planned to split by now, but can't seem to interfere in a hive that is just about to increase with many frames of capped brood. Let that brood add to the colony size and strength, and then I'll pull some spare frames of brood out to start splits.

3rd year Russian queen is very productive. Beautiful brood pattern. I thought they'd requeen her by now, but guess not. My last 100% Russian queen. Hoping to get at least 2 more of these queens this summer.

Laying worker hive is pathetic. Leaving that one to dwindle out (that's hive 5). They don't seem to be laying anymore drone brood.

Lots of pollen frames in the hives. No capped honey yet, no frames that really look like capped honey potential yet. I think they're still surviving off what they bring in plus winter stores. I'm seeing more bees on the dandelions now.

I consider this the beginning of main spring flow. 75F today and tomorrow, then back into the 60s and some rain in the forecast. I have a hive out there that is a deadout with many honey frames, so in a pinch, I think they could rob that out, which I don't think they're doing yet, so they must have found adequate sources.

Found drone brood in one hive with 2 mites right there on top of the capped brood. I squished those mites and brought 4 drone brood frames from the hives in to the freezer. Most of the drone brood that is mixed with regular brood I left alone. I left one or two frames of uncapped drone larvae in the hives for it to get capped and then I'll hopefully get back in there to retrieve it and freeze it. Using drone brood pulling as one of my mite controls. The laying worker hive hatched lots of drones and they are going hive to hive, most likely spreading the mite population as they do.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Okay, I went into my hives today. I'm down to 4, which is a nice number, altho I'm planning on making several splits this summer.
> 
> Not seeing a lot of nectar collection yet, but I am seeing a big surge in brood. This is good because the baby wax makers/comb builders will help me build up many, many foundationless frames. Young bees, warm weather, wax.
> 
> One hive now has 8 medium boxes - like Jack and the Beanstalk. With all 4 of my hives, I am adding boxes by pulling comb and honey frames out of the lower boxes and putting some in new boxes to add on top. So my hives are pretty well checkerboarded. I'm putting a lot of extra room on there because it's spring flow time, and This. Is. It. So all 4 hives got an extra box today.
> 
> I want to make splits, and have 5 double nucs out there waiting, but am holding off until the mother hives get really well established. I planned to split by now, but can't seem to interfere in a hive that is just about to increase with many frames of capped brood. Let that brood add to the colony size and strength, and then I'll pull some spare frames of brood out to start splits.
> 
> 3rd year Russian queen is very productive. Beautiful brood pattern. I thought they'd requeen her by now, but guess not. My last 100% Russian queen. Hoping to get at least 2 more of these queens this summer.
> 
> Laying worker hive is pathetic. Leaving that one to dwindle out (that's hive 5). They don't seem to be laying anymore drone brood.
> 
> Lots of pollen frames in the hives. No capped honey yet, no frames that really look like capped honey potential yet. I think they're still surviving off what they bring in plus winter stores. I'm seeing more bees on the dandelions now.
> 
> I consider this the beginning of main spring flow. 75F today and tomorrow, then back into the 60s and some rain in the forecast. I have a hive out there that is a deadout with many honey frames, so in a pinch, I think they could rob that out, which I don't think they're doing yet, so they must have found adequate sources.
> 
> Found drone brood in one hive with 2 mites right there on top of the capped brood. I squished those mites and brought 4 drone brood frames from the hives in to the freezer. Most of the drone brood that is mixed with regular brood I left alone. I left one or two frames of uncapped drone larvae in the hives for it to get capped and then I'll hopefully get back in there to retrieve it and freeze it. Using drone brood pulling as one of my mite controls. The laying worker hive hatched lots of drones and they are going hive to hive, most likely spreading the mite population as they do.


Great post and great observations!


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## Bob J

Weather has warm and sunny almost all week with highs ranging from 58 to 74 and nighttime lows from 42 to 55. Measurable rain for 2 days. YTD rain is 12.07" and we have 1.25" of rain so far this month (May).

Significant flow is still on! With my two strongest hives (Quincy/Needham) again putting on 30+ pounds each. These two hives are third year queens that I originally got from Full Bloom as Carni Mutt Nucs and are very productive. Lots of nectar with edges now starting to be capped and no dripping during frame inspections. With luck it looks like I might be able to do a small extraction in a week or two for the early spring honey. 

Had a call from my Rockland site about robbing that I had to respond to Tuesday. This site has two strong overwintered hives and an overwintered nuc (now in a 10 frame deep) that I built last summer. This was one of the last things I would have expected given the season but it was a typical robbing scene with angry bees everywhere and a pile of dead bees as well as fighting in front of the middle hive. Another weird thing is that the strong Italian hive was trying to rob the strong Carni mutt hive and not the smaller Carni. Luckily I keep robber screens on all hives in a yard with mixed size colonies so it was easy to deal with.... Closed up the two bigger entrances in front of all the hives and just left everyone with the smaller top entrance and they calmed right down... All hives in this yard lost weight so there must be a local dearth. Hopefully this will be a temporary condition as I have had high hopes for this yard....

Had a chance to attend an awesome queen rearing session hosted by the Plymouth county beeks on Sunday and I have to say it was simply outstanding.... Hands on grafting and cloake board manipulation as well as great discussions and information sharing... What an awesome day!


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## NewbeeInNH

Dearth sounds unusual, esp. since your other yard which isn't all that far away is putting on 30 lbs.! Maybe your Rockland yard was being robbed out by someone else's bees?

Since tomorrow is scheduled to be above 90F, I did the weekly hive inspection today. Made 3 new nucs; two of them used 4 brood frames from the 8 medium hive, and one of them used 3 brood frames from a 5 medium hive. Both queens lay wall to wall brood and are very productive, so I hope those genes carry on. I wanted to make a split with brood from my pure Russian hive, but that queen has always been on the unproductive side and she needs all her brood. She's an excellent survivor, a 3rd year certified Russian, but she doesn't believe in hoarding. She is a beautiful black queen tho and my token certified Russian, so I just let her putz along. 

I yanked 2 frames of drone brood out of the hives that I'll put in the freezer.

Plenty of queen cups but no queen cells and no backfilling so that's a relief. At this point I don't believe I have to worry about swarming (altho I'll keep checking weekly for the next few weeks). I was going to pull the queens from their hives to give the hives a brood break, and put those queens in their own nucs, but a recent thread on beesource questioned the validity of brood breaks for mite control so I think I'll just let them be. We'll see. I may split the queens out later. Altho spring is the time to do it, when the population is building up.

June 21st the queen starts winding down, and that's less than a month away! Whaaaa.

Also, bees were bringing in yellow pollen, I don't know from what. Dandelions are pretty much over. I'm not seeing a ton of stores in the hives yet, but then all the brood that has been hatching the past couple weeks is still pretty young, they may not have hit peak forager yet.


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## Bob J

Weather has warm and sunny almost all week with highs ranging from 60 to 92 and nighttime lows from 51 to 66. Measurable rain for 1 day. YTD rain is 12.18" and we have 1.36" of rain so far this month (May).

Black Locust is starting to bloom which is good since there was no significant hive weight gain last week after two weeks of gangbuster performance. Girls are bringing in lots of tan colored pollen and still no sign of swarm cells. Moved 2 hives back to the Marshfield yard and 3 hives to the new Needham site. 

Two of my mentees (one in Needham and one in Mansfield) reported signs of robbing in their yards. In both cases their yards had carni mutts and at least one Italian hive. In both cases a single Carni hive was targeted to be robbed which is the same as what I saw in my Rockland yard. Could be a pattern developing....


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## Bob J

A quick update. On my walk today I found the following blooming:

Sweet Arrow Wood








Tulip Poplar








Poison Ivy








Rosa Rugosa








I also caught up with my last yard yesterday and found that while my other 3 yards did not show a significant weight gain the Needham #1 yard is still going strong. I guess it just goes to show how much of a difference local conditions make:


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## NewbeeInNH

What great documentation, and thank you for the horticulture lesson! 

Could the lack of weight gain mean that they are investing more in their brood growth? Maybe the stores are going to feed all those babies.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> What great documentation, and thank you for the horticulture lesson!
> 
> Could the lack of weight gain mean that they are investing more in their brood growth? Maybe the stores are going to feed all those babies.


You are probably right.... My big production hives are absolutely loaded with bees and brood and they are the ones which tend to swing everything weight wise since they have the most available foragers... I think it all boils down to local forage and conditions... A couple of Black Locust or a street lined with Basswood coupled with decent weather can make a huge difference this time of year...

Black Locust








Basswood








The basswood picture was taken today and you can see the flower buds are closed and a week or so from blooming.... Will be interesting to see what next week's weights do.....


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## NewbeeInNH

This is the perfect time of year (in my opinion of course) to make splits. I just made my last 2 splits for now. I had 5 empty new nucs in the yard, and 4 overwintered hives. May 27th I made 2 nucs from the largest hive, and one nuc from the next largest. Today I made a nuc from my 3rd year Russian queen hive, and a nuc from the 4th hive.

I think this is a good time to make nucs because the queen has until 6/21 to really ramp up that laying. If I swipe a couple frames of brood from her, she has time to make up for it. After 6/21 she starts winding down. Plus, there's a lot of nectar flow out there right now, so hopefully the new queens they make will be healthy and happy. 

The nucs are 5/5 mediums. The bottoms just have foundationless frames for now (the newly hatched bees can make wax on those if they have nothing to do) and the tops have 2 frames of brood and 3 frames of honey/pollen.

So that makes 4 overwintered colonies in the yard and 5 new nucs. As the summer goes on I may be getting 2 more Russian queens; if so, I'll make new hives out of them too.

I checked the queen cells on 2 of the nucs I made on the 27th. They are not quite capped and I was very nervous that I could squish them, so I didn't check the 3rd nuc for their queen cell. I'll wait another week to check on the queen cells, when they're almost ready to hatch. If they didn't make it for whatever reason, I can still put a frame of open brood in there. I only found one queen cell in each of the two nucs; I thought maybe they'd make a spare or two, but it doesn't look like it. That would make me nervous, not having a spare.

Most excellent day. The next few days will be cool and gray I think, and that should be good weather for the nucs because there are basically no foragers in there anyway.


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## Bob J

Several swarms still being reported around the area..... One reported in Foxboro yesterday and two last week in Quincy... Not as many as a few weeks ago but still significant.....

Here is the updated local swarm trend since 2012:


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## NewbeeInNH

Wow, those are some pretty charts.

Glad you started this thread because I forgot what day I started my last 2 nucs, and I had it written in this thread. (Was it really only 3 days ago??) Who needs notes when you have a forum. 

Edit: Checked two hives today, an 8 medium and a 5 medium. The 8 medium is packed with bees (even after taking 4 frames of brood to start 2 of my nucs last week) and I put a 9th empty foundationless on top. At this point I am standing on some spare supers with a lid to reach the top boxes, a little nervous that stack could wobble over. I doubt they will do anything with an entire empty foundationless super, but who knows. It's going to be rainy tomorrow and they could get bored enough to draw some comb. The 5 medium hive had plenty of empty foundationless frames in the top box or 2, but they weren't building comb as quickly as I'd like to see and I was nervous that the queen was running out of room to lay, so I stuck a medium with empty built out comb frames from a winter deadout under those top 2 mediums. The bees need to clean those frames up (still some dead bees in there, some old honey, some broken comb) and the queen should have plenty of space to lay, unless they decide to make it a honey depot.


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## wfournier

Checked the hives yesterday, seems like the flow is getting into high gear around here now. I found one hive getting ready to swarm so I made a split with the old in hope that she will decide that she doesn't need to swarm anymore, leaving the old hive with the started queen cells to raise their own queen. I've had good luck with this in the past, we'll see how it goes.


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## NewbeeInNH

w, I did that last spring, but found that the old half with queen cells ended up swarming and then after swarming, so yikes. Watch out with how many queen cells you leave in that queenless half.


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## Scitfrostbite

I missed the other qcells and had an after swarm here in Hopk. The old parent hive was left pretty light. It was aggressive and full of drones but like clockwork, 21 days later (yesterday) I found eggs, larva and a new queen. Hoping that it rebounds ok.


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## NewbeeInNH

My mother hive that swarmed and then afterswarmed last summer is my strongest hive this summer. Guess they had their pick of the litter new queen.


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## scituatema

Has anybody had full honey supers yet in MA?


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## Scitfrostbite

Not much, maybe 1/3 full but then my hives had swarm fever in May.


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## scituatema

Deep or medium?


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## Scitfrostbite

Medium honey supers about 1/3 full. Additonally, the caught swarms and the parent both have too much honey in the deeps but I believe that's a result of the messy spring.


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## wfournier

scituatema said:


> Has anybody had full honey supers yet in MA?


The hive that is thinking about swarming has one at about 95% with 70% capped. Hopefully they get it out of there system and keep chugging along. I'll have to keep an eye on them.


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## scituatema

Medium or deep super?


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## AAIndigo

I just put my honey supers on last week. Needed them to build out the lower boxes first. 1 is a lower entrance with excluder and the other is an upper entrance with queen excluder.

Checked on the hives between rain today. Upper entrance hive with honey supers is packed with bees. Lower entrance hive has a few bees.

I will give it few weeks to see what happens. Testing the waters here. Wondering if the queen excluder is better for upper or lower entrance. Will be helpful for the fall flow when Honey is really on.

Archie


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## NewbeeInNH

AA, I've never used queen excluders. Can drones get thru those? Just wondering if the drones might get stuck inside the hive.


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## AAIndigo

NewbeeInNH said:


> AA, I've never used queen excluders. Can drones get thru those? Just wondering if the drones might get stuck inside the hive.


Great question. Gonna remove them today


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## kaizen

Or just give them a top entrance above the excluder


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## camero7

NO, drones usually can't get through queen excluders. I often see a couple stuck in them.


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## Bob J

scituatema said:


> Has anybody had full honey supers yet in MA?


Yes, I pulled two full supers from my monster hives Sunday and extracted.... Both hives were in my Needham #1 site...


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## Bob J

Weather has warm and sunny almost all week with highs ranging from 64 to 85 and nighttime lows from 54 to 70. Measurable rain for 2 days. YTD rain is 13.61" and we have 0.62" of rain so far this month (June).

Black Locust is still blooming but starting to fade.... Blackberries and Raspberries are just starting...

Hive weights boomed again in my Needham#1 site and saw very little weight gain in my other yards... Pulled two medium supers of capped honey from each of my Needham#1 monster hives and was able to extract what I estimate to be 50# of very light honey Sunday...

Got some bad news Saturday.... Right after working the hives in my Needham#1 site I got a call that a neighbor was mowing the lawn right after we left and got stung 3 times on the face/head.... She's all right but the bottom line is I had to move the hives... Reserved a trailer and was in luck that Sunday morning early was cool and rainy so hopefully did not lose many foragers.... These hives weighed 216# and 186# so when I got them to my Needham#2 site had to break them down to be able to lift them up on the stands... This is when we took the supers... Due to the short notice did not get a chance to use a bee escape so ended up brushing them off one frame at a time... Took the supers home and extracted... Was good timing in that we were just about out of our fall crop and the farmer's market season starts in a couple of weeks.... Really hated to lose this site since it was by far my most productive but I guess that's the risk of keeping very strong hives in a residential neighborhood....


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## NewbeeInNH

Oh no, Bob! Wouldn't you know it, your most productive site. Well, good you at least got 50# out of the deal.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Oh no, Bob! Wouldn't you know it, your most productive site. Well, good you at least got 50# out of the deal.


Yea, it is what it is... Hopefully something will kick in at my other sites.... Is very interesting now that I am tracking week to week at these different sites... Really is true that it all depends on what is blooming locally.....;- )


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## Bob J

Weather has warm and sunny most of the week with highs ranging from 66 to 84 and nighttime lows from 54 to 65. Measurable rain for 4 days. YTD rain is 14.07" and we have 1.08" of rain so far this month (June).

Catalpa and Privet are just starting... Still no basswood blooms but hopefully will see it this week...

Extracted and bottled the two supers of capped honey I pulled of the monster hives last week (56 pounds) for the upcoming farmer's market season (Southfield in Weymouth starting Sunday, 19 June).... Also made two batches of honey soap which should finish curing around the 4th of July... 

Rockland hives all put on weight (8lbs avg) as well as the hives in Needham that I did not pull supers from (12lbs avg).... Feeding my two hives in Marshfield since they are both weak.... All in all everything seems pretty normal with a light flow.....


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## NewbeeInNH

Did the last of the weekly spring swarm prevention inspections today - from now on I'll check the hives every few weeks. Yay because it was exhausting today.

4 production hives, all laying a lot of brood. They're drawing out some frames, lots of pollen, but the nectar supply seemed sparse. One hive I swapped a honey frame into. Also, I have a deadout that I've been storing honey frames in - old honey that I don't really want because it crystallizes, figured it would be of better use for making the 5 nucs or giving to a hive when they need it. I had noticed a lot of activity at that hive for several days, I figured either a swarm moved in there or they were robbing it. They were robbing it. The honey stores are almost gone. 

Plenty of space in those four hives so after adding that frame of honey to the lowest nectar stores hive, I closed them up and won't look at them again for a few weeks.

Checked stores in the 5 new nucs. They aren't old enough to be foraging all that much yet. One nuc was low on stores so I swapped a frame of honey from a nuc that had extra. I saw one new queen - a ******, but not plumped yet. All the queen cells that I saw were ripped open. I'll give them another couple weeks before I check them again.

And that's that. I think nectar stores are on the low side because we missed dandelion season, and now it's been very dry and no rain in sight.


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## Scitfrostbite

Nice update Newbee. 
Not much honey in my supers here in Metrowest. Hives with new plastic/wood frames are really slow building it out. Tons of brood. Seems like I'm past swarm season, no q-cells since May.


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## Mefco

I've got 2 supers full and capped (one on each of 2 hives), they are each filling another now


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## NewbeeInNH

Did you full super people have drawn comb in your supers? Because I'm thinking my nectar stores are going into comb building. I had 100 foundationless frames that needed to be drawn from scratch (not all of them are on the hives) and I think they've done a pretty good job getting comb going in a lot of those, so that's probably where my honey supply is going.

One of these summers I'm going to actually get honey from my hives.


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## Bob J

I put on a mix of drawn comb with undrawn frames checkerboarded in..... I also rotate frames 1 and 9 (only use 9 frames in my supers) checkerboarded into the center of the supers when they are in expansion mode so they will be built out.... I try and super at least two per hive before or at dandelion bloom to fully take advantage of expansion mode and to make sure there is plenty of room for expansion and build up cycles.... A lot depends on the local forage conditions and associated weather but preparedness is important...

I found this article by Walt Wright to be a good read on the expansion and build up cycles and associated management paths: http://beesource.com/point-of-view/...tive-checkerboarding-results-and-conclusions/


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## Mefco

the ones mine are filling are built out mediums


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## scituatema

I have harvested 2 deep supers from my best hive. I gave 10 drawn and 10 foundation frames.


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## NewbeeInNH

We're pretty much in the woods up here. Tonight I walked around the neighborhood and couldn't identify any substantial nectar sources (that I know of anyway). It could be that in more rural environments without the horticulture plantings, we're just low on nectar options.


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## camero7

I haven't harvested any yet, but I'm up to 4 supers on a couple of hives with 3 pretty full. Flow has slowed a bit in the last few days, but milkweed will be blooming shortly. Have a field full of it close to the hives.


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## coastie

Up here I have 2 hives each with 2 supers that are almost full and about 1/2 of a 3rd. In RI I have at least 7 supers mostly full between 3 hives.


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## Bob J

Another great weather week... Warm and sunny most of the week with highs ranging from 69 to 82 and nighttime lows from 55 to 64. Measurable rain for 2 days. YTD rain is 14.70" and we have 1.71" of rain so far this month (June).

Sumac are just starting... Crown Vetch blooming in Needham..... No basswood blooms yet...:-(

All hives are pretty much marking time equally in each outyard.... Bees are very busy but each yard was averaging around 5#/hive gain for the week so looks like there is not much out there right now for them to work....

Reported swarms are starting to decline significantly so it looks like we are nearing the end of the season here....

Had a chance to cover Oxalic Acid treatments at the Mass Bee Field day in Deerfield Saturday..... Was a great day but a long drive....


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## camero7

Sumac just starting here also... milkweed is just a few days away


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## scituatema

How much gain should we expect from sumac nectar flow?


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## Bob J

It can be a major flow but unfortunately is pretty short lived.... Most of my honey seems to come from Black Locust, Basswood, and knotweed (in the fall).... These seem to have plenty of nectar and the bloom period is long enough (10+ days) to make a difference..... This is obviously strongly keyed to what is locally available near my apiaries and the weather....


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## camero7

I get a flow from it in only one yard. I get a better flow from milkweed.


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## scituatema

I saw linden tree in bloom in Quincy this morning.


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## Bob J

scituatema said:


> I saw linden tree in bloom in Quincy this morning.


Just starting in Foxboro as well.... I have my daily walk and have also seen the first milkweed starting... With luck we should see a decent flow starting soon....


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## NewbeeInNH

Checked my 5 nuc splits today. Four had beautiful mated queens (really, they could all win pageants) and one might have been on mating flights - they never made a queen cell the first time around for whatever reason so then I had given them another frame. I forgot the timing so I ended up giving them yet another frame in one last chance today, but I don't think they needed it, I'm pretty sure their queen came home from her mating flight today and was surprised to find she had already laid a frame of brood.  Just hope the bees on that new frame didn't think to off her. Oh well, we'll see.

Stores in my hives continue to be very light. Finally we did have some rain today, but not enough. Very, very dry out there.


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## camero7

Turning into a major drought now. They'll eat those stores. Not going to be a good honey year, too bad because it started off great.


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## NewbeeInNH

Only a beekeeper can be devastated by day after day of sunny, warm summer weather.  (Well, and farmers too)


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## camero7

Easy swarm catch yesterday.


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## NewbeeInNH

LOL! Srsly? They just came to your stacked boxes and moved in?

And to think people go thru so much trouble finding the perfect swarm box and location...


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## camero7

must have been the perfect swarm box and location


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## Bob J

Warm and dry week with highs ranging from 73 to 87 and nighttime lows from 58 to 64. Measurable rain on 1 day (only 0.5"). YTD rain is 14.75" and we have 1.76" of rain so far this month (June).

Basswood is blooming! ;- )

Flow is definitely back! What a difference a week makes! All hives are putting on significant weight with the big hives in Needham (no surprise) leading the pack with approximately 30# weight increase each.... New white comb all over the place.... Big hives are getting too big to easily work so will plan on pulling full capped supers next week end and extracting after the 4th.... 

3 reported swarms last week one of which now resides in my Marshfield apiary......;- )


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## kaizen

Up here I haven't seen the flow stop for a month. Took off 80 pounds capped three weeks ago and all hives are backfilling brood chamber even if they have room above. The hive I took honey from now has about 60 uncapped. Dark honey.


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## deknow

I saw lots of basswood blooming in the 0ublic garden this morning, but I didn't see bees on them...might have been too early in the day, I'll be walking back through in an hour or so and will check again.


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## Bob J

kaizen said:


> Up here I haven't seen the flow stop for a month. Took off 80 pounds capped three weeks ago and all hives are backfilling brood chamber even if they have room above. The hive I took honey from now has about 60 uncapped. Dark honey.


Very cool! Any idea what they are working? 

Here the current batch of honey is very light colored and delicate flavored which to my understanding is a characteristic of Basswood honey. Earlier season extract was another light colored honey but much stronger tasting so am thinking it was Black Locust which I could see the bees working heavily at the time....


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## wfournier

I'd like to see some rain, it's been over two weeks with no rain here, and what rain we have had this month was from thunderstorms so I'm not sure if any actually fell at the bee yard. Weather underground is saying .64 in for the month. Everything is turning brown, it's dry and dusty.


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## Bob J

wfournier said:


> I'd like to see some rain, it's been over two weeks with no rain here, and what rain we have had this month was from thunderstorms so I'm not sure if any actually fell at the bee yard. Weather underground is saying .64 in for the month. Everything is turning brown, it's dry and dusty.


Same here.... Forecast is for rain the middle of the week for our area.... Hopefully we get a good soaking.....


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## Bob J

deknow said:


> I saw lots of basswood blooming in the 0ublic garden this morning, but I didn't see bees on them...might have been too early in the day, I'll be walking back through in an hour or so and will check again.


Hi Dean!

Are you working in Boston now? How are your hives doing? Were you able to get your hives off Long Island before they took out the bridge?


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## Mike01876

Greetings from Tewksbury MA. 

I am sorry to temper the enthusiasm around great honey flows (we pulled 400+ pounds last weekend), I just wanted to remind folks that Lyme Disease is in our neighborhood and it can be severe. I was just diagnosed a few weeks ago even though we take all precautions. I never had the rash and never saw a deer tick after careful daily checks, but obviously one got through, probably the one or two times I was driving by an Apiary and decided to quickly look in on a struggling hive without putting on my Permethrin pants/socks/boots. Our Apiary locations are located in and around the towns of Tewksbury and Andover, so right up the Route 93 corridor.

The advice I would give based on my experience, besides dressing appropriately, is that the medical profession does NOT initially consider Lyme Disease as a potential diagnosis. Apparently Lyme is similar to many other more common maladies. If something isn't quite right then please mention that you have the risk factor. In my case, I mentioned it in passing and there was a OMG moment, they were only too happy to do the blood tests and from there things got sorted out very quickly.

The second reason for this post, and probably most relevant, is that the doctor at Mass General disclosed I was her second Lyme positive Beekeeper this month?!?

I hope it wasn't anyone here on the forum, I had every major symptom of Lyme Carditis and I thought the worst. Amazing the damage something so small can do so quickly. Fortunately 21 days of Doxycycline has me on the mend.

Again, sorry to hijack the MA Update thread, but if I can in some way help someone avoid what my family and I went through it would be worth it. Trust me!

Now back to Beekeeping! I hope everyone has overflowing supers like we do, we spent the weekend swapping out backfilled brood frames for drawn comb in a few hives across several Apiary locations. The only observation I have is that I had been away on business for two weeks and those particular hives may have swarmed, so fingers crossed there is a mated queen running around in them looking for somewhere to lay. I also added more drawn supers to keep them busy, I hope!


Mike


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## Bob J

Mike01876 said:


> Greetings from Tewksbury MA.
> 
> I am sorry to temper the enthusiasm around great honey flows (we pulled 400+ pounds last weekend), I just wanted to remind folks that Lyme Disease is in our neighborhood and it can be severe. I was just diagnosed a few weeks ago even though we take all precautions. I never had the rash and never saw a deer tick after careful daily checks, but obviously one got through, probably the one or two times I was driving by an Apiary and decided to quickly look in on a struggling hive without putting on my Permethrin pants/socks/boots. Our Apiary locations are located in and around the towns of Tewksbury and Andover, so right up the Route 93 corridor.
> 
> The advice I would give based on my experience, besides dressing appropriately, is that the medical profession does NOT initially consider Lyme Disease as a potential diagnosis. Apparently Lyme is similar to many other more common maladies. If something isn't quite right then please mention that you have the risk factor. In my case, I mentioned it in passing and there was a OMG moment, they were only too happy to do the blood tests and from there things got sorted out very quickly.
> 
> The second reason for this post, and probably most relevant, is that the doctor at Mass General disclosed I was her second Lyme positive Beekeeper this month?!?
> 
> I hope it wasn't anyone here on the forum, I had every major symptom of Lyme Carditis and I thought the worst. Amazing the damage something so small can do so quickly. Fortunately 21 days of Doxycycline has me on the mend.
> 
> Again, sorry to hijack the MA Update thread, but if I can in some way help someone avoid what my family and I went through it would be worth it. Trust me!
> 
> Now back to Beekeeping! I hope everyone has overflowing supers like we do, we spent the weekend swapping out backfilled brood frames for drawn comb in a few hives across several Apiary locations. The only observation I have is that I had been away on business for two weeks and those particular hives may have swarmed, so fingers crossed there is a mated queen running around in them looking for somewhere to lay. I also added more drawn supers to keep them busy, I hope!
> 
> 
> Mike


Thanks for the reminder Mike.... Lyme disease is no joke.... My wife and I typically use plastic booties that cover our shoes, socks and secure about half way up our calves.... Keeps the poison ivy off our clothes and dissuades the ticks as long as we stay out of the taller grass..... Despite this I still find a few ticks that make it up to my lower pants leg.... Pant legs are sprayed with permethrin but it's still a concern....


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## NewbeeInNH

Guinea hens are good at tick control, altho they can be a bit noisy and they roam, almost like turkeys. Regular hens are good too, for that matter. I wish some communities would try sponsoring some free-range guinea hen flocks as an experimental approach. (Halfway through typing this - no joke - I pulled a dog tick out of my hair - I had felt that an hour ago but lost it, so thankfully it is now gone.)

I wonder if turkeys eat ticks. Our wild turkey population continues to grow and we often see them traipsing through.

My son first was diagnosed at 6 y.o (in Connecticut at the time) and within a year was diagnosed with what they said was a 2nd infection, altho I have no idea how they differentiated the immune response when he had already had it once. My husband was diagnosed a few years back. Antibiotics and, as far as I know, no lasting issues.

Also, ticks are absolutely devastating the moose population up here, they cover and weaken the moose until the moose (and even their calves) die.


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## NewbeeInNH

One dry, sunny, beautiful day after the other, it's hard to complain. We've gotten a couple of drenching downpours the last few days tho, so that brings a lot of relief.

I think one of my hives swarmed, found capped queen cells on 3 frames today but didn't notice a reduction in population. I left one queen cell frame there, and started new hives with the other 2 frames.

4 of my nucs are laying, they got a 2nd medium 5 frame nuc box on top today. One nuc I'm not sure what's going on with, there are queen cups that look like they have larvae in them but also some larvae on the frames. Since I last put a frame in there on 6/22, today would be day 10, so every cell should have been capped by now. Hmm. They like to keep me guessing. I closed them back up and will check on them later.

3 hrs. in the beeyard today. I think there might be a blooming basswood tree a half mile from my house. Yay. Elderberry is blooming, and sumac - they have golden blooms, I wonder if that means they're producing nectar right now. If so, there are a lot of nectar sources right now.


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## Bob J

A good productive week. A couple of good soaking rains to help keep the flow going.... Temp highs ranging from 77 to 87 (daytime) and nighttime lows from 60 to 70. Measurable rain on 2 days. YTD rain is 15.04" and we have 1.89" of rain (June) and 0.16" (July).

Basswood and milkweed are still blooming! 

Worked my Needham Apiary with my sons early Saturday morning. The primary focus was to replace several broken bottom boards damaged during some of the hive moves so I can monitor mite drops. This was a ton of work since several of the hives now were 200+ pounds so they had to be basically taken apart and rebuilt on the new bottom boards. Took the opportunity to replace the first gen broodminders with the newly release second gen as well as install the new scales (broodminder-W) on two of the monster hives. Also pulled 6 supers of fully capped honey from 4 of the hives. The 5th hive is a mike palmer nuc that is still building up. Was pleasantly surprised at the amount of capped honey but this was a good time to take it as we worked through the hives. 

Reported swarms was significantly up this week at 6 which I suspect is related to the onset of the basswood flow.


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## kaizen

Bob J said:


> Very cool! Any idea what they are working?
> 
> Here the current batch of honey is very light colored and delicate flavored which to my understanding is a characteristic of Basswood honey. Earlier season extract was another light colored honey but much stronger tasting so am thinking it was Black Locust which I could see the bees working heavily at the time....


Nope. That's one thing I have not figured out yet is tree identification. I never thought we had a lot besides pine and oaks/maples up here. In this particular yard last I arrived I was pleased to see natural wildflowers covering the meadow. The girls were going nuts. The first batch was dark. We'll see next weekend what this batch looks like.
At my other yard I had a TON of yellow pollen coming in. again no idea what its from but whatever it is there is a lot. dang wish I had bought some pollen traps this year!


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## clyderoad

Bob J said:


> Very cool! Any idea what they are working?
> 
> Here the current batch of honey is very light colored and delicate flavored which to my understanding is a characteristic of Basswood honey. Earlier season extract was another light colored honey but much stronger tasting so am thinking it was Black Locust which I could see the bees working heavily at the time....


from my experience harvesting these honeys, linden honey is not a light colored as locust and linden has a distinct tanginess to it. locust being lighter in color also has a big floral bouquet to the nose and seems sweeter than basswood on the tongue.


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## NewbeeInNH

I wonder if the yellow is sumac. Mine were bringing yellow in today too.


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## Bob J

kaizen said:


> Nope. That's one thing I have not figured out yet is tree identification. I never thought we had a lot besides pine and oaks/maples up here. In this particular yard last I arrived I was pleased to see natural wildflowers covering the meadow. The girls were going nuts. The first batch was dark. We'll see next weekend what this batch looks like.
> At my other yard I had a TON of yellow pollen coming in. again no idea what its from but whatever it is there is a lot. dang wish I had bought some pollen traps this year!


No problem..... That is part of the reason I started posting pictures in the "Post your Bloom Dates" > Massachusetts subforum (and also some here).... I thought that plus what can easily be found through a web search would help folks identify some of their local "bee friendly" plants....


----------



## NewbeeInNH

Rain, rain, beautiful rain. Who cares if we're freezing in mid July, at least it's raining.

Next week it's typical late July weather: 90s for days supposedly. I'm going to prop the telescoping lids up a bit to allow them better ventilation in the heat, especially the larger hives. Monday looks to be 75F, so last chance to get into the hives to take a look around before the heat wave.


----------



## camero7

Cold but no rain here. Just a couple of sprinkles. Drought continues


----------



## NewbeeInNH

Sorry to hear that Cam! I figured we all got the downpours. If we're lucky it was an inch of rain, probably more like .75".


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## camero7

We got .04"


----------



## kaizen

Well i'm licking my wounds today. First time I've been stung through my full suit. one bugger got in a crack and got me right on my chin/neck. another bunch on the legs. I was taking two supers and 4 deeps of honey off of them and man they were not happy. extracted 5 gallons to add to my 4 I took 4 weeks ago from this hive. Bad news is both nucs next to them are decimated. Didn't see dead bees like in robbing. Their populations just declined despite oav treatment and giving one another queen when I found it queenless 6 weeks ago. Going to split the heck out of this monster next week and hope to get my numbers back up. Hoping for a fall like last year.


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## Bob J

Cool weather this week with a single day (wed) of 90+ temps. Some minor rain but certainly could use more. Temp highs ranging from 64 to 92 (daytime) and nighttime lows from 59 to 70. Measurable rain on 2 days. YTD rain is 15.31" and we have a monthly rainfall of 0.43" (July).

Basswood is done but the milkweed and loosestrife are blooming! Bees have moved from the basswood trees to the summer flowers. 

Hives are pretty much in a holding pattern after the extensive work/disruption of last week.... Extracted in the middle of the week and gave the supers back to the hives to clean up. Put the "perdue ankle biter" nucs in my Marshfield yard. Queens are laying well. Will be interesting to see if these genetics live up to all that I have read about them. Was able to download my first week of data from the two hives I have the broodminder-W installed on. These are the hive scales that monitor weight continuously and record it hour by hour... Very cool! Each day you can see the hive weight drop as the foragers leave and then you can see it build up slowly as the day progresses and then a bigger increase at the end of the day when the foragers return for the night... 

Two reported swarms last week with one of them being mine from one of my monster hives.... Noticed that the activity was down in that hive as soon as I entered the yard. This was one of the hives I had the broodminder-w on so was able to confirm that it swarmed last Thursday when the hive weight dropped significantly and did not recover at the end of the day. Really hated to lose this queen as this was one of my best producers but hopefully her daughter will be able to take over where she left off....


----------



## camero7

> Hoping for a fall like last year.


Unless we get some good rain I not hopeful for fall flowers.


----------



## camero7

> loosestrife are blooming!


I'm seeing much less here in my area, how about you?


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## Bob J

camero7 said:


> I'm seeing much less here in my area, how about you?


Pretty solid patches in Needham but not much elsewhere.... Saw some on my walk this morning near where I work in Foxboro covered with bees....


----------



## Bob J

On the walk today saw bees on the following:

Privet







Milkweed







Thistle







Lavendar







Loosestrife (Argh only 5 pics per post!)

Looks like the girls are taking advantage of just about any reasonable target of opportunity....;- )

Also something to look forward too.... Some goldenrod blooms (but no bees on it) and Japanese Knotweed is just starting to send out flower shoots....


----------



## Bob J

Loosestrife!








Early Goldenrod








This one is interesting.... Am thinking this might be a different variety from the usual blooms I see in the fall... In the fall these are bee magnets but this is a single small patch with no obvious bee interest.... Many other patches of goldenrod are around but none of the other seem anywhere close to blooming... This one is clearly different....


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## NewbeeInNH

I think I read on beesource at one point that it's the late variety of goldenrod that is the nectar source for bees, and not the early variety, unless I read that wrong. Or maybe that it just doesn't put forth nectar until later in the season.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> I think I read on beesource at one point that it's the late variety of goldenrod that is the nectar source for bees, and not the early variety, unless I read that wrong. Or maybe that it just doesn't put forth nectar until later in the season.


Thanks! Will have to keep an eye on it and see what it does and if any bees take an interest.....;- )


----------



## camero7

NewbeeInNH said:


> I think I read on beesource at one point that it's the late variety of goldenrod that is the nectar source for bees, and not the early variety, unless I read that wrong. Or maybe that it just doesn't put forth nectar until later in the season.


Tall goldenrod is the good stuff, early is short and not worked by the bees.


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## Bob J

camero7 said:


> Tall goldenrod is the good stuff, early is short and not worked by the bees.


Thanks Cam! Good to know!


----------



## Bob J

Very dry week. Temp highs ranging from 73 to 93 (daytime) and nighttime lows from 59 to 73. No measurable rain. YTD rain is 15.32" and we have 0.44" of rain for the month (July).

Bees are working thistle, milkweed and loosestrife. 

Worked Marshfield Saturday, installing hive scales on the two full hives and replacing all the bottom boards. New nucs seem to be settling in and were very busy bringing in light tan, olive drab and orange pollen. 

Replaced all the bottom boards in Rockland and installed hive scales. Pulled 7 capped honey frames from one hive and checkerboarded in new frames. Varroa are starting to build up so will need to treat these hives this week. Several hives are starting to evict the drones so it looks like they are getting set up for dearth.

Needham hives are still putting on significant weight. Am not sure where the flow is coming from but they are next to a very large expanse of purple loosestrife running along the Charles river so that might be it. 2 of the 5 hives are showing varroa starting to build up so will also need to treat this week or next.

Will be setting up Nucs this week to overwinter.... A bit late this year but the earliest I could work it in with everything going on.... 

2 reported swarms this week.


----------



## kaizen

Bob are you letting them make the queens in the new nucs or are you adding some?


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## Bob J

kaizen said:


> Bob are you letting them make the queens in the new nucs or are you adding some?


Hi Terrence! I'll be adding ripe queen cells from a local breeder.... I have nucs that we recently built with Purdue Ankle Biters so am thinking that these will be Carniolian... While a bit late in the season to be making up my overwinter nucs there still should be enough time for them to build up before winter....


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## Scitfrostbite

Even with the lack of rain here in Metrowest, my hives seem to still be bringing in nectar and capping frames, slow and steady. I have a brook and large wetlands around my property which I guess might protect my hives from the full effects of drought? I hope to extract what I got next week and begin OAV treatments.


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## wfournier

Still real dry out west here but there does still seem to be some nectar coming in. I swear I smelled goldenrod when I was walking through the yard this morning. Is there anything else that has that kind of smell?


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## Bob J

wfournier said:


> Still real dry out west here but there does still seem to be some nectar coming in. I swear I smelled goldenrod when I was walking through the yard this morning. Is there anything else that has that kind of smell?


Not that I know of.... From my experience the smell is pretty specific to goldenrod.... I know some goldenrod is starting to bloom where I am but I have yet to see bees on it....


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## wfournier

Bob J said:


> Not that I know of.... From my experience the smell is pretty specific to goldenrod.... I know some goldenrod is starting to bloom where I am but I have yet to see bees on it....


Yeah I have seen quite a bit of early goldenrod blooming but the bees don't usually do much with that, I do think I saw a flat top blooming on my way home from work last night, of course it was one of those things by the time I realized what it was I was already by it and didn't get a good look at it. I meant to double check coming in today but of course it slipped my mind.


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## kaizen

Took this tonight. Had a antique white pollen . noticed a lot more bees cleaning up frames and equipment that has been sitting there for weeks with no attention so thinking the nectar is drying up.


----------



## NewbeeInNH

Went to our bee club meeting tonight. Sometimes that place is like a support group. You go in feeling really discouraged and come out all inflated again.

Thought I'd pass along a couple things that the former or current state bee inspector (I can't remember if he retired or not) told us.

He said he has a couple hive scales down in the seacoast area here, and every day for the past 2 weeks they've been losing half a pound a day. Some of that is probably due to evaporation in the nectar, but he said we are also in a dearth here now and will be until the end of August. He said not to feed - if a hive is a bum hive and isn't going to make it, it's best to let them go. (Altho feeding at the end of August, especially if something interferes with fall flow, is appropriate.)

He said a hive needs to have about 20 lbs. of honey to feel secure, otherwise they get very stressed.

Brood will be scarce now as the queens will slow down and even take a break from brood rearing during the dearth. He also said people think they've lost their queens, but he said the queen will slim down considerably since she won't be laying much, and you might not recognize her.

He also said (and I know I just said this in another thread) that queens start making their winter bees around August 10th - the bees that will live for 6 months. He said if you don't have a queen in there by then, they won't make it through the winter.

I don't know if any of you know our former or current bee inspector, he's also a commercial guy but has reduced his hives to I believe 400, but wow the experience he has, what a privilege it would be to hang around his beeyard and learn a few things.


----------



## frustrateddrone

WOW! Can you show the mechanism that you use to lift the bee hives and weigh them? I have seen some commercial scales, but I only have a bathroom scale and that won't work.


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## Bob J

frustrateddrone said:


> WOW! Can you show the mechanism that you use to lift the bee hives and weigh them? I have seen some commercial scales, but I only have a bathroom scale and that won't work.


I currently have broodminder scales (http://broodminder.com/#BroodMinder-W) on all of my hives but one. They connect to an app on my phone when I am in the apiary. They record/store hive weight every hour so I can see general trends throughout the entire week when I am not around... Very cool as you can actually see the daily weight change when the foragers leave in the morning and return in the evening as well as general day to day trends.... 

Before that I used a game scale I got from Cabela's that hooked onto a screw eye that I put in the back of each hive.... The scale has a "hold" function so all I need to do to weigh the hive is to lift the scale long enough to get the confirming beep and then read the result... Double the reading and you have an estimate of the hive weight... Not nearly as accurate as the broodminder but good for trends as well as setting up for winter weight...


----------



## Bob J

Another dry and hot week. Temp highs ranging from 80 to 93 (daytime) and nighttime lows from 64 to 73. Two thunderstorms passed through for rain. YTD rain is 15.53" and we have 0.65" of rain for the month (July).

Bees are working loosestrife. 

All hives are busy bringing in light tan, olive drab and orange pollen. 

Marshfield hives/nucs are doing well. The two new nucs (Purdue Ankle Biters) are both building up fast and will need to be actively managed to prevent swarming. 

Rockland - Split hive 6 into 3 new nucs on 19 Jul. Clear signs of Varroa so treated all hives with OAV on 21Jul. Inspected on 24Jul and there was a huge mite drop on hives 6 and 10. Virtually no drop on the other hives. Will plan on treating every 5 days until the mite drop clears.
















Needham hives are still putting on weight. Checkerboarded the supers and will plan on pulling anything capped first weekend in Aug to make it easier to treat for Varroa. 

No reported swarms this week.


----------



## Bob J

Sweet Pepperbush (Clethra) is starting to bloom but no sign of bees working it yet....








Lots of action on the Knapweed....


----------



## NewbeeInNH

Saw some honeybees on the goldenrod this morning that is just starting to open. It's very hot and dry today, have to fill the water container almost daily. But tomorrow starts rainier and cooler!


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Saw some honeybees on the goldenrod this morning that is just starting to open. It's very hot and dry today, have to fill the water container almost daily. But tomorrow starts rainier and cooler!


One can only hope.... It's pretty brutal down here.....


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## NewbeeInNH

Saw a local news report this morning, some landscaping businesses are down 50% this summer - grass doesn't need to be mowed. Add that to snow plowing that didn't need to be done last winter, and that's gotta hurt.


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## wfournier

Weather underground is forecasting 1.4" of rain tomorrow we'll see... It seems like every storm that comes through dries up just before it gets to us.


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## NewbeeInNH

Crossing fingers. I lived upstate in the Conway area several years back when we had a few snowless winters and ski resorts were hurting. A group did a snow dance in North Conway and I'll be dadgummed if we didn't have several snowy winters in a row after that. So maybe we need to organize a group rain dance.


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## Bob J

Blessed rain! Looks like it might settle in all day....;-)


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## camero7

We can only hope and that it saves the fall flow.


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## NewbeeInNH

We got maybe half an hour of very light rain, not a drop in a bucket of what we need. It looks like it's clearing for now. Once again, disappointment.


----------



## Scitfrostbite

1/4" here in Hopkinton, looks like it's clearing out now. Low pressure center too far offshore to get dumped on.


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## Bob J

Same here.... Looked good on radar but did not deliver much at all.... So much for the forecast of 1 to 2 inches......:-(


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## kaizen

Didn't want to jump the gun wed I was in my hives and saw dark honey being worked and capped. Today I caught a wiff from 20 feet away. Smelled good though so not sure if its goldenrod.


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## scituatema

No rain in Scituate.

I wonder if bees get honey from oak trees in MA.?


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## Bob J

scituatema said:


> No rain in Scituate.
> 
> I wonder if bees get honey from oak trees in MA.?


The only things I see them working right now is the knapweed and the loosestrife.... Too bad about the (lack of) rain.... Forecast says we might have a chance Sunday.... Certainly hope we get something significant soon....


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## NewbeeInNH

My vegetable garden doubles as a pollinator garden this year, I had scattered buckwheat seed throughout and that's helping with the dearth, it will flower for a few weeks yet. The big patch of large white daisies is looking old and tired. I see the bees all over the plantain, they do that this time of year. I had read that altho it's a pollen source, it's not a real nutritious source, and when the bees are on plantain you know there's not much else around. I have smartweed clogging up the place, but they don't seem to be interested in that at all, too bad. One positive about the drought is that the bees have been able to get out every day, and not stuck in the hives.


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## camero7

Bees are starting to work the goldenrod here. Pretty scarce nectar judging by the fighting that was going on over some squash blooms in my garden this morning. Still working the looestrief here also.


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## NewbeeInNH

Wunderground is promising me an inch of rain between Sunday and Monday. Let's see if this pans out. Starts to get like Charlie Brown and the football.


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## camero7

I'm getting the same stuff from them... bees are working ****leburs this afternoon.


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## NewbeeInNH

Now they're shirking back to less than half an inch....

Oh brother. Sometimes I think they just predict rain so we won't get too despondent.


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## Nharcher1

Radar looks lime we will get something this evening. This time of year the night rains sure are the best so it doesn't dry right up. No great for the open flowers but I'll take it right now for sure. 

Bees been starting to hit goldenrod in the field around the house.


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## Bob J

Another very dry week but cooler than last week with only 2 90+ degree days. Temp highs ranging from 74 to 93 (daytime) and nighttime lows from 68 to 76. Scattered thunderstorms have been about all we have see with little significant rain. YTD rain is 15.57" and we have 0.69" of rain for the month (July).

Bees are working knapweed, clethra (pepperbush), goldenrod and loosestrife. 

All hives are pretty much marking time with little loss and little gain. 

OAV treated the Rockland hives again and it's still generating a significant mite fall. Will hit them again this week. Will plan on pulling any capped frames and reducing the number of supers to make it easier to OAV treat all my hives in the upcoming weeks. 

1 reported swarm this week.


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## camero7

We're up to 3/4" of rain this morning and it's still raining. Fall flow is looking better.


----------



## NewbeeInNH

Lucky you. It's missing the seacoast NH area, seems to be staying south.

How do you find cumulative rainfall for the past few days? I wonder how much we got. Much less than an inch I'm sure. If it's even half an inch I'd be surprised. I'm thinking a quarter.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Lucky you. It's missing the seacoast NH area, seems to be staying south.
> 
> How do you find cumulative rainfall for the past few days? I wonder how much we got. Much less than an inch I'm sure. If it's even half an inch I'd be surprised. I'm thinking a quarter.


We are getting some here but not nearly enough to make a difference....:-( 

For local weather I would use the Weather Underground.... It's a network of locally managed weather stations that are accessible through the web.... Here is the link: Weather Underground for Strafford nh

My weather station is a member and where I get all my (very local) weather data.....


----------



## camero7

According to Weather underground we got .86" today. We got .2 yesterday. .07 Sunday. Made a little dent in the drought.


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## NewbeeInNH

I'm jealous, cam.

Okay, here's some shots from today, except for the Canada thistle, that was right before the rains (I mean drizzles) came:

Need a traffic guard on the Canada thistle:








Another one of those. I have never seen them on Canada thistle before, usually only the bumbles, but I'm thinking they're not as picky this summer:








I think this is regular thistle?? It doesn't have the monstrous prickers that the Canada thistles have:








Goldenrod (I think?):








I believe this is Joe Pye weed. Just starting to bloom, not a lot of activity yet:








The real beauty is the buckwheat blossoms, but you have to get them early for that because they stop with buckwheat by about 10:30 a.m. Maybe tomorrow.


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## camero7

that's what I call ****le burrs. Bees were all over it the last 3-4 days.


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## NewbeeInNH

Oh no. Those are the things that stick to you everywhere? Bleh.

This is an interesting part of the yard right below the deck - when we moved here it was just dirt but years of chickens hanging out there I think has fertilized the soil and this year it got no attention - no mowing, nothing. All kinds of things are growing there, including the ****el burrs, if that's them. Lot of small light lavender aster looking tall things, but the bees don't seem to care about those.

Lot of flies on everything. Anyone noticing a lot of flies this summer?


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## camero7

This is what they'll look like after the first frost.


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## wfournier

Those are Burdocks, nasty buggers.

Accoring to Weather Undergound westover got a little over two inches over the past few days (I guess that is out closest station).:banana:


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## camero7

Judging by the landing boards this morning, the flow has picked up. It was pretty slow the last couple of weeks. The rain seems to have helped.


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## kaizen

ayuh. I have orange and yellow pollen coming in. bees again have a mission. all boxes smell like goldenrod. git your supers on


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## Bob J

Another very dry week but cooler than last week with no 90+ degree days. Temp highs ranging from 74 to 88 (daytime) and nighttime lows from 62 to 68. Scattered thunderstorms have been about all we have seen with little significant rain. YTD rain is 15.61" and we have 0.04" of rain for the month (Aug).

Bees are working clethra (pepperbush), goldenrod, Joe Pye weed and loosestrife. 

Hive weights are slowly drifting lower. Brood rearing is significantly slowing.

OAV treated the Rockland hives the third time this week and still seeing a significant mite fall. Pulled most of the capped honey this week being careful to leave them with enough to cover the dearth. This will make it easier this week for me to start OAV treatments on all hives since there will be less super weights to remove.

No reported swarms this week.

Praying for rain.....


----------



## Bob J

Beautiful day of rain.... Probably more coming down today than we have gotten in the past 2 weeks....:thumbsup:


----------



## nhoyt

I live near springfield and it rained most of the day, we needed it big time.


----------



## camero7

Latest drought monitor map for MA:


----------



## Bob J

Ended up with .21"..... Anything is good right now but wish we had gotten more.....:-(


----------



## NewbeeInNH

Looks like the weekend may get a lot of rain. Wunderground said .20" here yesterday also. 

I have the shakes worrying that fall flow will be like dandelion flow: so rainy they can't get to it. That would be the worst of all possible worlds.


----------



## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Looks like the weekend may get a lot of rain. Wunderground said .20" here yesterday also.
> 
> I have the shakes worrying that fall flow will be like dandelion flow: so rainy they can't get to it. That would be the worst of all possible worlds.


Agree..... All we can do is hope for the best with enough rain to support the flow and yet not so much to prevent the girls from foraging..... Keeping my fingers crossed!


----------



## toekneepea

Cam, Where did you find that map? I'm looking all over NWS and I'm not seeing it - not that I'm doubting you, I'd like to send a copy to my club's membership...

Tony


----------



## NewbeeInNH

I was looking all over for that map too, to get one for my area, but I finally gave up. Couldn't find the same format.


----------



## camero7

you can grab it here:
https://twitter.com/NWSBoston


----------



## toekneepea

Thanks Cam!


----------



## Bob J

Awesome Cam! Thanks!


----------



## kaizen

oh yay
http://www.wmur.com/news/statewide-bear-warning-issued-due-to-lack-of-natural-food/41168528


----------



## NewbeeInNH

kaizen said:


> oh yay
> http://www.wmur.com/news/statewide-bear-warning-issued-due-to-lack-of-natural-food/41168528


Oh no. Well, one good outcome will probably be a reduction in population next year.


----------



## kaizen

NewbeeInNH said:


> Oh no. Well, one good outcome will probably be a reduction in population next year.


Hopefully not my colony population. Wondering if I need to go to my out yards armed. Everyone says they will run but with my luck I will get the defiant one


----------



## NewbeeInNH

Yeah, if they're hungry, you have a good point. Altho I think they usually come late night or sunrise hours, at least that's when I've seen them here, except for that one juvenile who sat in my woods here and scoped out the potential menus late morning. He was silly tho, didn't know what a dog was, and he may have gotten zapped by the fence because he never came back.


----------



## camero7

Just got .34" of rain... for once the shower didn't miss me.


----------



## NewbeeInNH

No rain here. Yet anyway. 

Are you all seeing much fall flow yet? The air smells like honey around my apiary, but it's been so hot and muggy I don't want to go in there right now. I'm wondering if I need to add more supers. They still had a lot of space last time I checked them, but tables could turn.


----------



## Mike01876

If only we were so lucky! At least here in Tewksbury/Andover, we haven't seen any significant increase in weight except for two locations which are adjacent to swamps full of purple loosestrife. In fact, on Wednesday night we moved a half dozen hives to a better fall location, I was shocked at how much weight they have lost in just three weeks. I had supers which were ready to extract but they have pulled it all down!


----------



## NewbeeInNH

Wow. That could get into starvation territory, especially for those who already extracted. 

Chances of rain this weekend keep decreasing.


----------



## camero7

IN one yard bees have quit the looestrief pretty much for the goldenrod. Other yards they are still on it hard.


----------



## NewbeeInNH

Because of the unexpected partial sunshine today (  ) I took the opportunity to tend the hives. I added a super to each of my 4 production hives (I use the term production loosely) (I believe they are now a 9 medium, 8 medium, 6 medium, and 5 medium hives - I didn't go thru them, just put an empty super on top of each. altho they do seem to be building comb right now, when I peeked at a few frames). I found some open brood and then a queen in a nuc I thought for sure was queenless, so that was a pleasant surprise. But the surprising thing was that a week ago I went thru my nucs and was alarmed that there was little to no nectar or pollen stores in some of them. So I thawed some pollen patties and wrapped a piece of sugar brick in a piece of pollen patty and put in each nuc. Today when I checked the nucs, no sugar or pollen patties. I didn't have any thawed pollen patties so I just put more sugar brick in each one, and when my pollen patties are thawed and warm, I'll put them in the nucs. They must have really needed that, so I'm so glad I caught that before it was too late. Then I added a nuc super to each nuc so they are now 5/5/5 medium nucs and I'll see how much they fill out by fall.

Overall I am seeing nectar stores come in, and seeing a lot of brood, so that's good. My buckwheat is still blooming (I love buckwheat for bees - it blooms for weeks, anytime up until the first frost, it builds the soil, and it's basically easy) and I've seen them all over the plantain and the canada thistle still.

Side note, I also see, like every summer, pollinators sleeping on the canada thistle and other flowers, especially the bumble bees. They like to hang out there and nap, upside down under a blossom.

P.S. Now it's raining.
P.P.S. And now it stopped already. Grr.


----------



## Riskybizz

NH

Depending upon time of year and available flow, nucs often times don't have the available field force to gather surplus nectar. I always keep a very close eye on mine here to make sure that they aren't stressed by lack of stores. If I were you I wouldn't waste my time feeding sugar bricks in the summer. Get some syrup mixed up and feed them. Bricks work well in cold weather when they can't take in syrup. Well fed bees are healthy bees.


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## nhoyt

Had the samething happen last week. We have goo ten a decent amount if much needed rain with brought out these little golden flowers small little thing and the bees are making short work of them also my neighbors subpeers came out after the rain, there is like 5 to 10 bees on each flower. She got a kick out of it. The pollen patty I did give to them they eat up until the rains came. I'll keep the pattie inside just because it is still dry. Btw where do you live?


----------



## NewbeeInNH

I'm in Barrington.

Thanks Risky, so far I've used honey frames, when I made up these 4 nucs in late May (they made their own queens), and then if they seemed to run out, I'd stick another one in there, but this dry dearth has everyone behind schedule in honey stores. I used the bricks only because I didn't want to induce robbing in the apiary right now, and also because I don't have feeders for the nucs yet, have to think about that. This is my first summer with nuc boxes, and my hive top feeders of course don't work. But mainly I just don't want the bees themselves to starve out before fall flow kicks in.

P.S. Wunderground radar has a beautiful shade of dark green over my entire area right now. Love that dark green.


----------



## kaizen

Well I packed up some hives to move early in am. Was going to seal the entrance now. Lighting and downpours. Guess the move is delayed
The more rain we get seems the less coming in. They were working furiously two weeks ago now not so much


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## camero7

We got around 3/4" of rain last night.


----------



## wildbranch2007

camero7 said:


> We got around 3/4" of rain last night.


nice we got about an inch of hail, and 16 hrs without electricity, glad we could defrost it for you:applause:


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## kaizen

Thanks mike!! I was driving home in it last night and saw small hail but nothing much or for long. Lightning went most of the night. Real china cabinet shakers. 
Ended up moving a truckload of hives this am. Ground very saturated. Bees flying with a purpose at my second yard. Barely 630 and looked like the whole hive was flying.


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## Bob J

Another very dry week with 3 90+ days. Temp highs ranging from 80 to 95 (daytime) and nighttime lows from 66 to 77. Scattered thunderstorms have been about all we have see with little significant rain. Compared with other weatherstation in my area it looks like my raingauge is on the fritz so will have to get the ladder and check it out when I get a chance...

Bees are still working Joe Pye weed, goldenrod and loosestrife. Pepperbush is just about done....

All hives are still pretty much marking time with little loss and little gain. Lack of rain is a killer.

Am starting to think ahead to my winter preps.... Planned on requeening 3 hives that were lagging the rest but only ended up requeening one. The other two were packed with brood (good patterns too) so gave them a reprieve. Made two more nucs with the other queens and moved one of the nucs that was getting too strong for the nuc into a full deep. Bought these queens from Sam Comfort so it will give me another look at some different genetics... Have heard good things about his queens but will have to see how they compare...

Put the extracted wets back on the hives for the girls to clean up and repair... Am OAV treating all my hives on a 5 to 7 day cycle (depending on my work schedule) and some of the mite drops are astounding. As suspected, my strongest hives have built up the most mites so it's good I'm hitting them now to get the numbers back under control before we see winter bees... Overall hive weights range from 67.5 to 183.9 lbs so I may still need to do some redistribution of supplies to ensure they have enough as the dearth continues... Would like to avoid any significant syrup feeding so going forward will only take honey from hives when they are clearly over winter weight (150 lbs or so). All hives (except the one I requeened) have lots of brood and have adequate space in the supers so if we get a flow I should be able to avoid any swarms... 

No reported swarms this week.


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## NewbeeInNH

Bees are on everything full-force here today. The goldenrod is crowded (a lot of wasps on there too), the usual suspects of joe pye weed, asters are beginning, jerusalem artichoke flowers, wildflowers of various sorts including small sunflowers, buckwheat, canada thistle, plantain, and even the smartweed now. Maybe the smartweed is mature enough now, or maybe the bees are just desperate. There are many patches of goldenrod spread here and there and I see a huge patch in my neighbor's backyard and they don't live there full time, so my bees are probably enjoying full rein there. It seems everything they can access they are on, and I'm hoping they are packing the honey away. I added a foundationless super to each of the 4 production hives a week ago, I might peek to see if they've drawn any of that out. I suspect they won't draw it out, but with all that's available right now, who knows, they might.

So far this looks like a great last swing before winter. Hope so. I haven't extracted yet, am waiting to see how much excess there is. If there is.


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## Scitfrostbite

Just finished third OAV treatment. I didn't test but just do it summer and thanksgiving.

Returned extracted supers 2-3 weeks ago but they're still empty. Some deep frames have lost honey so it appears they're using stores.

Action in my yard has picked up with bees all over lemon thyme and mint. In the meadow, lots of action on Joe Pye and Evening Primrose. I see lots of Goldenrod but not much action on it yet?


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## NewbeeInNH

Checked on pollen patty supplies in my 7 nucs today. They were still mostly there, but I did stick a few pieces of sugar brick in each nuc just in case they wanted a snack after foraging. The bees are very busy and active right now, on everything.

Checked the 4 production hives to see if they're building comb in the very top super. I think largely not, which isn't a surprise, but the space is there if they need it. Actually the 2 biggest hives I pried the top, the populations were so large and they were so busy that I just closed the lid again.

They should be good to go for another 2 weeks, don't think I'll disturb them. They have everything they need to be packing in the stores right now, whether it's thru foraging or thru foraging plus pollen patties and sugar cubes (in the nucs). This is looking to be a pretty good fall flow where I am, but I've worked hard at not letting anyone mow here, can't guarantee that will last thru the fall flow season. If you want good forage for bees, you just have to let the weeds grow. It can get embarrassing, but the honey is more important.  The apiary continues to waft of sweet honey.

Supposedly an inch of rain coming tonight. That would be nice. And then sunny again tomorrow. So that's perfect.


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## Bob J

Much cooler this week and we got a nice soaking rain come through yesterday. Temp highs ranging from 78 to 89daytime) and nighttime lows from 66 to 74. Fixed my rain gage.... Luckily was nothing more that some stuff plugging the funnel. Figure I probably lost 0.5" to storms while it was not working. Month rain (August) is 0.65" and YTD is now at 16.22....

Bees are still working Joe Pye weed, goldenrod and loosestrife. Some Pepperbush still out there but not too much.... Knotweed is starting to send out flower stalks but not blooming yet....

All hives are still pretty much marking time with little loss and little gain. Lack of rain has a killer.

OAV treatments have resulted in a very satisfying mite drop...;- ) 

No reported swarms this week.


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## camero7

Just finished pulling my honey. Disappointing year for me... I believe they ate quite a bit of the honey during the extended drought. Better luck next year [as all farmers say!]

Going to have to feed this fall I'm afraid.


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## Bob J

camero7 said:


> Just finished pulling my honey. Disappointing year for me... I believe they ate quite a bit of the honey during the extended drought. Better luck next year [as all farmers say!]
> 
> Going to have to feed this fall I'm afraid.


Sorry to hear Cam.... This drought has been brutal!

Hopefully we will get more rain before long..... On my walk today I saw the first open Japanese Knotweed blooms and the bees were all over it... There was another patch that bloomed earlier but did not see any signs of interest from the girls.... Am thinking maybe it's two different varieties of Knotweed but they certainly like this one!


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## clyderoad

Not in MA, but honey harvest off this year about 30% for me.
Same reasons here on Long Island NY.


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## camero7

Don't have much knotweed near my yards [need to transplant some]. I'm actually down about 50%. One yard was pretty good, about 70# hive. Others were worse.


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## Scitfrostbite

Probably against the law to plant knotweed, while the bees love it, it's a horrible invasive plant.


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## Scitfrostbite

Hey, a local store in MA asked me about selling them some honey to resell in their shop. I don't know anything about doing this but assume that in MA there's a bunch of laws/regulations to be able to do this. Anyone here have any insight? Thanks in advance for any advice.


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## camero7

No problem with selling to a store. They can resell with no problems. Many of us do that.


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## Bob J

Dearth continues this week with no measureable rain since the last report. Temp highs ranging from 78 to 88 daytime) and nighttime lows from 59 to 69. Month rain (August) is 0.65" and YTD is 16.22"....

Bees are still working Joe Pye weed, goldenrod. Knotweed is now starting to bloom and the girls are all over it. Loosestrife and pepperbush look to be pretty much done..... 

All hives but one are slowly losing weight......

Continuing with the OAV treatments.... Gave the new Heilyser JB700 a good workout and consider it to be a big improvement over other vaporizers I've used in the past. 20 to 30 seconds a hive with no chance of burning bees or setting a hive on fire and both the blower and the heater run off a 12V car or boat battery. Also nice that I can fit the nozzle into the gap in the back of the screened bottom board (if I pull it out slightly) so I can work from the back of the hive instead of the front.... Downside is the price $388 shipped (ouch!).









No reported swarms this week.


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## wfournier

camero7 said:


> No problem with selling to a store. They can resell with no problems. Many of us do that.


I know some states require a certified kitchen for handling the honey when it is sold in a retail store but I couldn't find anything indicating this was a requirement in MA. Based on what you are saying it sounds like this is not required in MA is that correct?


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## kaizen

I have started feeding. Although some activity I don't believe it's enough coming in to get up to weight. Weather looks good for extended brood production and I have some with new drone brood. Are you all feeding or when will you start? I was hoping I wouldn't have to this year.


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## Bob J

kaizen said:


> I have started feeding. Although some activity I don't believe it's enough coming in to get up to weight. Weather looks good for extended brood production and I have some with new drone brood. Are you all feeding or when will you start? I was hoping I wouldn't have to this year.


Right now I am feeding my new nucs and one hive that appeared to be queenless during last weeks inspection just in case the queen had shut down due to the dearth.... 

I have broodminder hive scales on all my hives now so I am able to easily check hive weights without having to go into them.... There are a couple of hives that I am keeping my eye on that are in pretty rough shape that I may end up starting to feed if we don't start a flow soon.... The rest of the hives I'll evaluate at the end of September and then as necessary feed (or redistribute honey from better off hives) to build up to winter weight... 

Girls have been consistently working the goldenrod and knotweed is now starting to bloom but with everything so dry am not sure if there will be any significant nectar unless we get some rain...


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## NewbeeInNH

We have a chance of rain Weds/Weds night. Thursday and Friday are supposed to be cooler, mid 70s, so I am planning to peek into my hives then. As much as I have seen the activity on the buckwheat and smartweed in the mornings and then goldenrod in the afternoons, I'm not too nervous about feeding yet, but the past day or so I'm getting uncomfortable again with the lack of rain conditions. I haven't taken honey off my hives so I'm pretty sure they're okay for now, if I have to feed I'm thinking not for a couple weeks yet, but the nucs are more fragile than the large hives, they need closer monitoring. If I see enough nectar in the nucs, then I won't worry about the large hives for now. And I don't see robbing, so that's a good sign.

Our lot consists of "hydric soils" normally, so we may be able to ride out a drought better than some areas. I'm hoping that if the pollinators are all over the plants like they are now, it's because they're getting something out of them.


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## Bob J

One thing I forgot to mention is that for me it is critical at this time that all of the queens are solidly starting to lay their winter brood.... If they are not all solidly laying for the next inspection and there is not a break in the dearth I'll give them a gallon of 1:1 to help kick start it....


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## camero7

I started feeding my nuc yard again today. They are too light to head into winter so it's time.

I checked my nucs and I'm very happy with the all-grooming queens I got from Carpenter. They are laying up a storm. Haven't done mite counts on them yet but they sure look healthy and the patterns are great.


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## kaizen

Last year I got lucky with the weather and was feeding into December. however the farms had plowed the access fields under so I had to walk in. not fun with gallons. I don't have much faith in any amount of rain lasting for a few days to allow the plants to suck it up. I would feel better if they got bound up right around the time they stop laying. we'll see. I'd like to be cozy on the couch watching football and not hauling syrup. Not to mention i'm up to about 20 hives/nucs to starting to get expensive


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## Bob J

camero7 said:


> I started feeding my nuc yard again today. They are too light to head into winter so it's time.
> 
> I checked my nucs and I'm very happy with the all-grooming queens I got from Carpenter. They are laying up a storm. Haven't done mite counts on them yet but they sure look healthy and the patterns are great.


Hi Cam
Would appreciate it if you could expand a bit on the all-grooming queens... Are these VSH or some type of VSH+ (ankle biter etc.)?


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## camero7

Here's the breeder's explanation.
http://www.carpentersapiaries.com/Pages/default.aspx

I read a couple of good reports on facebook about them and decided to try them. I'll be ordering more next year based on what I've seen so far [if they survive the winter - these are FL queens.] If I get a chance this week, I'll do a mite count and post it.


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## Bob J

camero7 said:


> Here's the breeder's explanation.
> http://www.carpentersapiaries.com/Pages/default.aspx
> 
> I read a couple of good reports on facebook about them and decided to try them. I'll be ordering more next year based on what I've seen so far [if they survive the winter - these are FL queens.] If I get a chance this week, I'll do a mite count and post it.


Thanks Cam! Much appreciated!


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## Bob J

Rain in the forecast for a bit today and more over the long weekend (hopefully).... While not excited about hosting a hurricane, the rain will be most welcome!


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## kaizen

so with these you need to use a sticky or oil pan in the bottom to catch the daily grooming? from the way they describe it they don't open up a larvae ?

I got some decendants of the ankle biters and thinking my xmas gift is going to be a good microscope to start looking for mites missing legs.


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## camero7

just do alcohol washes, much more efficient and you can look the mites over for missing legs too


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## NewbeeInNH

Checked my nucs yesterday, I was disappointed. There is so much available all around them - large quantities of goldenrod, asters, other blooms, and the buckwheat that is starting to turn to seed but has been available to them. The nucs were very light on stores. I did not go to the bottom nuc boxes but briefly scanned the 2nd box and saw plenty of unfilled comb. So I supplemented them and closed them back up.

I briefly looked into 2 of the large hives - one had comb space in the top box so I know they aren't bursting at the seams, and the other was defensive so I left it alone. 2 other hives are tall and I need something to stand on to check those, so I left those alone for now.

There are so many blooms around that I hesitate to get into feeding mode now, except for the nucs. The bees are actively flying and on things, so surely they are bringing in winter stores. It's still warm enough I think I have time before fall feeding. I'm still crossing my fingers that when I consolidate the 8 and 9 medium stacks down to 4 mediums, there will be enough honey frames scattered throughout that I will be able to put those in the nucs for winter.

If there's nothing in the big hives, then I have thousands of pets out there that I need to feed and take care of, instead of providing real estate to the natural order to do their own thing and let me take surplus. If it takes too much energy to feed them, house them, grow plants for them, and it looks like they still can't survive on their own, then what's the use? I might as well get 50 dogs.


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## camero7

> If there's nothing in the big hives, then I have thousands of pets out there that I need to feed and take care of, instead of providing real estate to the natural order to do their own thing and let me take surplus.


Sounds like you need to reevaluate your yards. I am closing a yard next spring which has not produced much honey [25# - hive avg] in the last 2 years. Other yards have produced much more.


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## camero7

Just finished mite counts. Max was 5 mites/300 bees. Started treating. Beginning to really like the JB700 as I get used to it and work out the kinks. Did a 20 hive yard in about 15 minutes from pull up to load up and go.


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## camero7

Interesting difference this morning when I finished treating 2 more yards. Changed supplier of OA and the bees were much more aggressive and defensive. Had to put on gloves in the middle of one yard because they were so angry. Don't know if it was the OA or the time of day - pretty cool this morning when I was in the hives.


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## Scitfrostbite

Interesting that you say something about being aggressive. I checked my four hives this week, three docile Italian hives but the fourth was very aggressive. I noticed this defensive hive was low on stores so I'm feeding now. I wonder if the lack of stores is making them cranky? I have not witnessed any robbing.

Starting to see bees on knotweed and the late goldenrod but still not adding weight to hives... Yet?


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## camero7

None of my hives is gaining weight judging by the heft test. Feeding my nuc yard, will probably begin feeding the rest in a week or so.


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## wildbranch2007

Scitfrostbite said:


> Starting to see bees on knotweed and the late goldenrod but still not adding weight to hives... Yet?


many times during a drought the goldenrod doesn't produce in the fall, pollen yes nectar no.


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## NewbeeInNH

Well, so much for the rain. What a wimpy tropical storm. Did you ever think you'd hold out hope for an extra snowy winter? inch:

The ticks from the warm, snowless winter last year combined with the heat have done a number on the moose population this year. Not only are they dying from being over-ticked, but apparently they stop eating in temps over 70s.


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## camero7

> Did you ever think you'd hold out hope for an extra snowy winter? inch:


 nope


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## camero7

> many times during a drought the goldenrod doesn't produce in the fall, pollen yes nectar no.


I think that is happening here... I don't see bees working Goldenrod very hard and my nuc yard sucked down 10 gal of syrup in 2 days, just put another 10 out.


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## NewbeeInNH

I'm beginning to suspect the bees are scamming us. The memo is we are supposed to be entitled to their extra honey. But instead they feel entitled to our extra sugar syrup. This is feeling unjust.


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## camero7

You are experiencing the farmer's life. Good years and bad. Seems like there are more bad than good.


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## wildbranch2007

camero7 said:


> I think that is happening here... I don't see bees working Goldenrod very hard and my nuc yard sucked down 10 gal of syrup in 2 days, just put another 10 out.


rumor up here is the goldenrod is late, some of the commercial guys have moved down from up north because they didn't have a flow, not sure how moving to an area that has had a drought is a better area , I do know it is backwards, the goldenrod that produces nectar has bloomed while the shorter ones that usually make pollen haven't produced any, luckily I have pulled all my supers, and not one ounce of goldenrod but the areas that have napp weed did well, I'm of by over 30% from last year, first time since moving to NY I got less than 100lbs per hive, but what a nice summer, I don't want any of that New Hamp. snow though, we get more than enough.


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## kaizen

Interesting about the goldenrod. I mixed up 20 gallons 2-1 and went to feed my hives and all of them were very active at 6pm. Considering the new bees are orientating at 2 oclock or so this leads me to think there is a flow going on. At my second yard I watched some golden rod and saw a lot of insects including bumblebees and fly's all over it. As it was cooling off I expected them to be in the hive an hour before sunset. 

https://youtu.be/fcT2sT84JHU


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## Bob J

Finally got some rain as Hermine finally arrived. Roughly .25" at my weather station so far.... Not as much as I would like but at this point am glad to see anything.... Temp highs ranging from 70 to 86 daytime) and nighttime lows from 61 to 71. Month rain (September) is 0.15" and YTD is 16.37"....

Bees are still working Joe Pye weed, goldenrod and little ragweed. Knotweed is now starting to bloom and the girls are all over it. Still some loosestrife blooming..... 

All hives but one are still losing weight (lower scale)......








Continuing with the OAV treatments as some hives are still showing a significant mite drop.... As mentioned in my last update am really liking the JB700. So quick and easy! Yellow jackets are in full robbing mode but so far the hives seem to be holding them off without much trouble.

Focus now is on queens solidly laying winter brood and making sure the hives have enough weight just in case the dearth continues. Started feeding 1:1 to any hive that is not showing a solid brooding temperature or has a gross weight less than 100#. Have one Apiary that is infested with SHB so did a gardstar drench around the hives. I have one nuc that is solidly queenless so have a queen on order and should be in tomorrow. 

This is what it looks like when a queen stops brooding.... The upper scale is the hive temperature from a broodminder right above the cluster.... Normal brooding temp is 95F or so and you can clearly see when brooding shuts down...






This hive got 1:1 so will see if brooding starts back up during next week's check....

One reported swarm this week. Some reports of hives absconding.


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## Scitfrostbite

Literally hundreds of honey bees going crazy on each knotweed plant in the conservation land and farm next door. This level of foraging intensity just came on in the last week or two. I wonder if the recent rain has also help things. I still have a super on each hive waiting and hoping. Will shift to winter prep if nothing happens soon.


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## camero7

I wouldn't wait. I'm starting winter prep now. Nucs are gaining weight as I open feed. Don't think I'll need to individual feed in that yard.


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## kaizen

Just checked some nucs that I have not been feeding yet. They were backfilling the brood nest with nectar. they are onto something.


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## Bob J

Thunderstorms occasionally rolling though are giving a slight relief but not nearly enough. Weather continues to slowly cool with some nights starting to feel like early fall. Daytime highs were 70-89F with the nighttime lows 61-71F. Month rain (September) is 0.45" and YTD is 16.67"....

Bees are still working Joe Pye weed, goldenrod and little ragweed. Some knotweed still blooming but most patches around here are now done. Still some loosestrife blooming..... Found one plant girls are foraging that am not sure what it is....






If anyone recognizes it please let me know....

Most hives are now slowly gaining weight.... Am still feeding any hives that are too light and might be at risk of starving.

Continuing with the OAV treatments as some hives are still showing a significant mite drop.... Amazing to me that I have some hives with a significant mite drop right next to hives with virtually nothing even after OAV.... 

Requeened one hive that was struggling. Spent an hour looking at frames without any luck finding the original queen. Finally resorted to using a shaker box and within 10 minutes there she was! Amazing how easy it is when you use the right tools! Will plan on combining any that are still weak at the end of the month...

Two reported swarms this week. Still seeing reports of a few hives absconding.


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## grantsbees

BobJ, Do you use mouse guards? If so, when do you plan on tacking those on? This is my first year and the girls on my hive are very busy still during the day. I've got my guard ready to put on at any time.


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## Bob J

I put mine on late in the season when we get our first frost.... I've found that is usually early enough for where I am.... Up till then I have robber screens on all my hives/nucs so not much chance of a mouse getting in before I switch them out for the mouse guards....


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## camero7

I put mine on when I wrap my hives for the winter. As long as the bees are flying and active they will kill any mouse the wanders in.


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## camero7

A sure sign there is little for the bees. Yesterday I was in my shop and there are a couple of sugar boards laying around. Bees have ignored them all spring and summer but they were all over them yesterday. If your hives aren't up to weight it's time to start feeding. I like to feed all yards a little to mix sugar with the fall honey. I believe it helps prevent crystallization and makes the winter feed easier to eat.








Drought is really starting to take it's toll.


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## grantsbees

camero7 said:


> A sure sign there is little for the bees. Yesterday I was in my shop and there are a couple of sugar boards laying around. Bees have ignored them all spring and summer but they were all over them yesterday. If your hives aren't up to weight it's time to start feeding. I like to feed all yards a little to mix sugar with the fall honey. I believe it helps prevent crystallization and makes the winter feed easier to eat.
> 
> Drought is really starting to take it's toll.


I'm actually south of Rte 20 and there is an incredible amount of goldenrod everywhere. That being said, I haven't seen any honey bees on them. Mostly carpenter bees and mason bees.


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## camero7

As Mike wrote, in drought sometimes goldenrod doesn't produce nectar, just pollen. May be the case this year. I don't see bees on the asters either


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## kaizen

thought i'd post a few items. Just started a thread as I had a new nuc swarm. dumb bees. but other thing is mice. recommend getting mouse gaurds on. brought a nuc up to an outyard to put in a box that absconded a couple months ago. opened it up to find 4 mice in it. I've had a lot of problems at my house already trapping since late july in the house. Went to take in some wax from my solar melter I left out there and mouse turds all over it. gonna be a bad year for mice boys and girls.


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## NewbeeInNH

Checked my "production" hives today - 4 hives that overwintered and were strong in the spring and have done a good job with lots of brood. I have not extracted honey this year. Lately I've been checking my nucs (7 of them) and held off checking the production hives for the past 6 weeks or so. Today was a nice day so figured it was a good time to go thru the production hives and see what's what.

Not one frame of capped honey in any of them.

The biggest hive was first, 8 mediums. Plenty of bees in the top supers and then sparse after that and nary a drop of nectar in that hive. Pretty scary. The 7 medium hive next to it at least had a box that had a good bit of weight on it, but that was about it. The other 2, pretty much the same thing. I saw the queens in 3 out of 4 of them, the one I didn't see the queen had a good deal of brood so I know she's in there.

Consolidated the hives down to 4 mediums each. Went out and bought 50 lbs. of sugar, probably will be doing that on a regular basis. Tomorrow feeders on all hives, 2 to 1 syrup.

Last summer I did not extract, but had enough honey for all my hives to overwinter plus had enough to spread to the new nucs, and then extracted some in the spring from a deadout. 

I'm blaming the drought, altho last summer we grew a lot of buckwheat here and that probably helped nectar supply. Still, I'm blaming the drought. The other night at the club they were talking about no nectar coming in from the goldenrod.

Meanwhile, there are bees on every goldenrod, aster, etc. plant around here, and we haven't mowed this summer so there's been quite a bit of it, we have a few acres cleared and it's growing bee weeds. And still...

Heard good things at the club last night about bamboo. Maybe that's an option for the future, altho I'm not sure if they were talking about real bamboo, or one of the invasives that is just called bamboo. 

I can now put feeders on all the hives in my beeyard without worry that they'll rob each other out. I'm also not worried about them starving overwinter because between syrup feeding now and then sugar bricks over winter they'll be fine. But I am worried about if this drought continues and I don't have enough forage for my bees. May think about reducing the number of hives/nucs for next summer if this keeps up.


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## kaizen

bamboo? I planted bamboo in my yard. love it. but bamboo does not flower or produce nectar. if they do the whole thing dies because its setting a seed. only does it every hundred years or so per species. kinda cool though. that plant and all its children all over the world all flower and die. fun fact.....its a grass. newbee there wasn't any grass at your meeting was there? lol


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## NewbeeInNH

Well, then it must have been knotweed. They call knotweed Japanese bamboo. I was afraid of that. I wouldn't mind true bamboo - even tho it is notoriously hard to control, it does produce great bean pole stakes, etc. Knotwood is on NH's prohibited invasive species list.

Unless there's some other species of bamboo that produces nectar, but this was probably it.


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## camero7

That was it... good fall nectar plant but does tend to crystallize


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## Bob J

Lots of humidity but still no significant rain. Daytime highs were 72-86F with the nighttime lows 53-66F. Month rain (September) is 0.49" and YTD is 16.71".... Am hoping today we get something from the latest front but so far it's been little more than a tease...

Bees are still working goldenrod. Some knotweed still blooming but most patches around here are now done. Still some loosestrife blooming..... 

Most hives are in a holding pattern this week with only one significant weight loss (more on that later).... Am still feeding any hives that are too light and might be at risk of starving. Yellow and Orange pollen coming in almost all hives...

Continuing with the OAV treatments as some hives are still showing a significant mite drop.... 

All hives are suffering from the drought.... Everything is dry as a bone. I had one strong hive that I had left the telescoping cover tilted up for added ventilation but apparently had left enough space for robbers to get in... Based on the broodminder it looks like it was robbed pretty much continuously for 4 days with a total net loss of 49#. Quick inspection showed it to have been completely robbed out.... Gave it 5 frames of honey from another strong hive and cleaned out the dead bees from the bottom board.... Amount of dead bees looked almost like you would have seen in a 3# package.... Pretty stupid mistake on my part and time will tell whether it will cost me this hive... Thing that amazed me was that there were three hives in this yard and the robbers ignored the nuc and went for this really strong one... Closed up the other hives except for the small opening in the top of the robber screen.... Checked yesterday and the outer part of the robber screen was covered with aggressive bees trying to get in... Defenders are doing well so will give them a week until the robbing subsides and then open the brood nest to see how bad the damage is.... Not a good day.....

No reported swarms this week.


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## NewbeeInNH

I started feeding and the bees have smelled the sugar all the way up to the house. They are now hovering all over the house. Down the way I set out some pans of 2:1 with towels stuffed in them to keep them from drowning. I'm moving those further and further away from the house. They really need the supply, they are obviously at wit's end for food. I ran out of sugar but will re-stock their feeders as much as I can when I get more. If I can't get into the feeders because they are so desperately covering them, then I will just continue with the open feeders somewhere a ways from the apiary but also a ways from the house. As it was I had to turn on the hose just to get into the house, they were hovering at the door post. Jeesh. They are really super super agitated from low supply right now. I have never seen them like this before, and this is my 4th or 5th summer. As I speak, there are about 30 of them hovering at my window screen. What are they smelling? Me? This is getting like Hitchcock's The Birds.


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## kaizen

Tough loss bob. Hopefully they can build up in time.


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## Bob J

kaizen said:


> Tough loss bob. Hopefully they can build up in time.


Thanks! Sadly one of my best hives.... So stupid of me and with the day temps dropping as we move into fall was not necessary.... I've been doing this for several years now without a problem but will never do it again... Once burned, twice learned..... Am just praying that the queen wasn't killed....:-(


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## deknow

They are agitated because you have started a robbing frenzy. I hope you don't have neighbors.


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## NewbeeInNH

Who, me? I hope not. But no, I don't have neighbors. 

I have feeders both in the hives and now some out. I was hoping if robbing was taking place, it would happen outside the hives and leave my colonies alone. It's that kind of climate right now. I was hesitant to put any open feed out for that very reason, but it was just some to supplement, since I'm now out of sugar and have appointments today so that I won't be able to get some till late this afternoon.

I'm not seeing big congregations at the nucs, so I'm hoping that means no robbing action. If there is robbing, then I guess I'm feeding someone else's bees. Probably wouldn't be the first time.

Yeah, I'm not sure what to do at this point. It rained a few inches last night, which while nice, means there is absolutely nothing for them to gather today from plants. Cloudy and possible rain later again. I can't just let them starve.


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## camero7




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## Bob J

camero7 said:


>


Lucky stiff! So far in Quincy we only have 0.14" of light rain....:waiting:


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## Ramona

Hi everyone...It's been a really long time since I posted to Beesource! Hope this content is relevant to Massachusetts update thread...

I now have 41 colonies in Leominster and New Braintree, 2 in a new location in Fitchburg. 10 of them are nucs, mostly 3 deep. I'm currently feeding diluted honey to three nucs in my backyard in Leominster; the others are on their own for now. I've been through all the colonies in the last 10 days or so, all have some stores, some up to a deep full. Almost all have gorgeous brood patterns and originate from treatment-free southern stock. Over the summer I took about 200 lbs of honey from around 6 colonies that were 3 and 4 deeps. I harvest by the deep frame and was very conservative as my main goal currently is to build up the bees and my colony numbers and see what they can do without treatments. 

Yesterday it was cloudy and humid in Leominster, perfect weather for cranky bees! Everyone was hard at work bringing in loads of pollen. All were storing at least some fresh nectar so my plan is to keep an eye on them for the next week or two and see what they can do before I consider liquid feed.

I did overwinter last year with Lauri's sugar bricks on the nucs and full colonies that were lighter in stores. LOVE the bricks and feel that they were incredibly helpful in making sure that the bees had food under the covers where they spend a lot of the winter. All 21 of the 21 colonies I went into winter with made it through!

I brought 15 more treatment-free nucs up from Florida in early April 2016 and fed them; when I used liquid sugar I added food coloring so I could track the stores. Very little ended up stored. 

I started minimally grafting last year and raised 7 queens in 2015 and 3 through grafting in 2016. I had one of my 2015 queens come through the winter bursting out of a 3 x 5 frame deep, crowded them into a 10 frame deep with an excluder over it and another 10 frame deep plus a medium on top, thinking they would produce honey. Instead, they made a ton of queen cells! I was able to use the cells and split to make 4 more nucs. One nuc is now in three 10 frame deeps and produced another queen from a later split. All 5 have the nicest brood patterns and have stored capped honey.

I'm using relectex as inner covers year round and 1" rigid pink foam insulation under my telescoping covers year round. Some of my colonies have upper entrance migratory covers: I put the relectex and pink foam on top with rocks to hold them over the winter. No wrapping.

Thankful when the drought came that I harvested so conservatively.

Am loving my bees so much!!! I have photos in my samsung galaxy note 3; if anyone knows how I can easily post here from that phone and attach photos, let me know. Too much going on to try and learn more technology before winter!!!

Ramona


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## Bob J

Welcome Ramona! ;- )


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## Ramona

Bob J said:


> Welcome Ramona! ;- )


Hi Bob, have been following all your updates. I'm at the Quincy Farmers Market every Friday 11:30 am - 5 pm at Merrymount Park if you or anyone else is around. Can show you photos there until I figure out a more advanced procedure!


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## Bob J

Ramona said:


> Hi Bob, have been following all your updates. I'm at the Quincy Farmers Market every Friday 11:30 am - 5 pm at Merrymount Park if you or anyone else is around. Can show you photos there until I figure out a more advanced procedure!


Very cool! Will swing by if I get a chance....;- ) Glad to hear your bees are doing well!


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## Ramona

Bob J said:


> Very cool! Will swing by if I get a chance....;- ) Glad to hear your bees are doing well!


I think your bees have been swinging by already and helping themselves to my sample jars!!!


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## kaizen

Ramona said:


> I think your bees have been swinging by already and helping themselves to my sample jars!!!


Interested to see how your florida bees winter. that is if we have a new England winter. are you continuing treatment free on them?


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## Ramona

kaizen said:


> Interested to see how your florida bees winter. that is if we have a new England winter. are you continuing treatment free on them?


It's my second winter with the Florida bees. Last year I brought 7 TF back from Palm Beach County. Seventeen of the 21 I went into winter with were from those original 7. None of them were treated, last year or this year.


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## Bob J

Ramona said:


> I think your bees have been swinging by already and helping themselves to my sample jars!!!


;-)


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## camero7

> Interested to see how your florida bees winter. that is if we have a new England winter


I don't know why so many beekeepers are fixated on northern queens. I have taken probably over a 100 Florida queens through the winter up here over the last 6 years. I don't believe it's northern queens but the queen breeder that makes the difference. JMIO


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## kaizen

Ramona said:


> It's my second winter with the Florida bees. Last year I brought 7 TF back from Palm Beach County. Seventeen of the 21 I went into winter with were from those original 7. None of them were treated, last year or this year.


That's interesting. I hear a lot of buying local bees and cold country bees because of our location. yours apparently don't care


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## Ramona

camero7 said:


> I don't know why so many beekeepers are fixated on northern queens. I have taken probably over a 100 Florida queens through the winter up here over the last 6 years. I don't believe it's northern queens but the queen breeder that makes the difference. JMIO


I've been thinking a lot lately about this topic. Coming of age in the 60's and 70's, it was all about the power of "nurture". No one I hung out with wanted to believe that we were predestined in any way by "nature" or any kind of biological determinism. The older I get, the more I'm understanding the power of genetics, that some life forms just are the way they are, regardless of environment, upbringing, etc. Yes, environment can shape and influence to a degree but the underlying genetics are the most important.

Bees are highly adaptable. Great genetics moving anywhere will trump not so great localized genetics.


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## camero7

> Bees are highly adaptable. Great genetics moving anywhere will trump not so great localized genetics.


Could not agree more. That said, I've ordered some Michael Palmer queens, not because they are from Vermont but because I believe their genetics might fit my program quite well. Will continue with the Carpenter queens from FL next year. Nice patterns and seem like they will be good honey producers. Not sure they are much better at grooming but it's been a small sample so far.


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## camero7

Bees working asters pretty hard today.


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## camero7

Nuc yard really sucking down the syrup...


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## kaizen

just went out to walk the dog. I saw something. it was a distant memory. I think we call it a puddle. then mixed up 2-1 syrup and made a mess. I really hope they start collecting something cause i'm not liking this feeding deal.


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## NewbeeInNH

I'm having issues with feeding too, kaizen. Yesterday was cloudy and damp and the bees were not out, but the day before they were on every available clump of aster or goldenrod, and were buzzing in clouds of activity. I'm hoping for another day like that today. I will still have to feed, but the more they can gather on days like today, the better. They are much better at it than I am.


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## camero7

this feeding deal is part of beekeeping. That is if you want honey. If I didn't take honey, make nucs, etc. I would not have to feed either.


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## camero7

Just checked my nucs when I was treating [problems with the JB700 which I posted under product review]. Carpenter nucs are by far the strongest of all my nucs. Should have ordered more queens from him. Will now wait to see how they handle the winter.


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## NewbeeInNH

Round 2 of feeding today, took about an hour, spilled syrup in the kitchen and lugged buckets of syrup to the beeyard with smoker and refilled quart feeders and top feeders. Phew. 64F and I was sweating like crazy. Tried an experiment of the leftover sugar bricks I had from last winter, which were a sugar/apple cider vinegar mix, so I melted those in warm water and put it out as an open feeder, wonder how they'll like that. All the feeders in the beeyard were empty (I think it was a week and a half ago that I fed them last) except one nuc, the quart feeder wasn't quite empty.

Interesting, it's a nice day and one hive was plastered in the front with bees with orange pockets. I'm wondering if the 3-4" of rain we had last week made the goldenrod pop. 

I'll bet a large percentage of each hive is out foraging right now. They must know they're up against time to get stored by winter. OH, and forecast shows mid to high 30s for a couple nights. I wonder if that will end the goldenrod/aster? I hope not.


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## camero7

You're doing it the hard way. Mix you syrup in the yard, won't spill on the kitchen floor and make your wife hate bees... You can mix pretty heavy syrup with cold water, just takes longer to dissolve it. But I can stand there with a drill driver much easier than lugging buckets. Move to 1 or 2 gallon buckets. Take less refill. I don't bother with a smoker when I'm refilling buckets. It's quick and easy. Just have a full one, put it on, refill it move to the next hive, etc. I'd worry about that nuc that didn't take a quart. Even with a small flow they should be taking syrup much better than that. Just my observations and experience, not a criticism of what you're doing... my bad back has forced me to figure out how to do things with less lifting and carrying.


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## kaizen

I understood last year where all my splits and nucs were new I would have to feed. but at about 20 hives/nucs now i'm dropping 100 bucks a whack. no way if I expand i'm going to continue this. I only took honey off one hive this year so I really didn't expect I would be this much in the hole. still trying to find what I like. I have 2 out yards that I have to drive to and I quickly figured out the gallon jugs were not going to work. I use European feeders which I presently have on top of the frames. interestingly as they are in side the actual hive I should be able to use these well past any cold temps. opened up the feeder 2 weeks ago on a brisk morning and although it was empty I could feel a burst of warm air when I took off the lid. but at 2 gallons each I needed a large amount. tried to do it without spending money using an old rain barrel I have that is sealed with a hose drain. mixed up 20 gallons of 1-1 but as its gravity feeding it took too long to fill the feeders. thought it would be only 30 seconds each. I like the idea of the big barrel but I couldn't mix in the barrel through the hole as my mixer extension wasn't long enough and I couldn't find an extension for it. so had to mix 5gal buckets with hot water and dump it in. think i'm going to get one of the pesticide sprayers from tractor supply. has a pump on it. just not sure if its big enough to survive sucking in sugar granules till it gets mixed. as for the bees. I had a swarm last weekend. dumb bees. spent 4 days recatching them before I locked them in. hopefully they will still be there. now I have to find which nuc they came from .


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## NewbeeInNH

Thx camero. I didn't need smoke except for the big hives with the hive top feeders. Those are hard to refill as there are always bees in them, even when dry. I have to take off the feeder box and smoke them off of it to put it back on and refill it so I don't drown them. Plus, this time of year they are just not happy. They're looking for someone to blame, and I look like a likely suspect.  

kaizen - This has been a terrible year, at least where I am, for honey production. Last year I did not need to feed, this year they barely stored any honey. It is expensive to feed them. And I took zero honey off my hives this summer. It does make me think - maybe if it's so hard to keep them supplied with nectar, I have too many hives in my location. But, then I remember this summer was the pits (at least for me). If this becomes the new norm, I'm reducing my hives to about 2 and a couple nucs for insurance. But I don't think this will be a long term trend. Next summer will be interesting.


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## kaizen

Newbee I have mine in three different locations all with normally abundant resources. Not more the seven in any one spot and all yards had same result of not much


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## camero7

Farming is always with a boom or bust cycle. 3 years ago I had a bumper crop, this year about 50%. Farmers expect that


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## Bob J

Another week with no significant rain. Weather is starting to cool noticeably. Daytime highs were 65-80F with the nighttime lows 50-70F. Month rain (September) is 0.83" and YTD is 17.05".... Rain in the forecast starting (supposedly) tomorrow and possible for the rest of the week so am keeping my fingers crossed...

Bees are still working goldenrod and a small amount of knotweed still blooming..... 

Hives are in a holding pattern with no significant weight gain/loss..... Am still feeding any hives that are too light (<100# net weight). Yellow and Orange pollen coming in most hives...

Continuing with the OAV treatments as some hives are still showing a significant mite drop.... 

Sad week overall due to the loss of two hives.... One infested with SHB was found dead this weekend.... Was weak and normally would have tried to combine with a stronger hive but did not want to risk given the number of SHB. Nucs (2) in the same yard are showing no SHB and the other hive is showing a few but appears to be coping. The second deadout was the robbed hive. A few bees were left that I combined with another hive in the yard but it was a tough loss. There were literally thousands of dead bees on the bottom board. What makes it worst is that this was one of my Mike Palmer nucs that I picked up this spring that had grown into one of my strongest first year hives. The good news is that all the other hives/nucs appear healthy and appear to be coping as best as they can with the dearth. The requeened hive is doing well with a fair amount of new brood. 

Had a chance to talk with the local bee inspector recently and he indicated that the only place he had seen SHB was down on the cape. The hive I lost was in Weymouth and I have seen a small number in Rockland as well. During a discussion at another apiary in Brockton I mentioned my SHB problem and was shown a SHB slimed frame that was taken from one of the local colonies. Could be my imagination but it seems like this may be on the upswing locally so might be worth keeping an eye out for them. 

One reported swarm this week.


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## NewbeeInNH

Bob - That's bad news for all of us, concerning your SHB. Have not heard of a significant problem with them here.

If only one of your hives got robbed out, you don't think the dead bee mass could have been a pesticide source they got into, do you?


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## camero7

Bob, get some unscented swifter pads, cut them in strips and put several at the back and sides of the top box. You'll catch a few bees but you'll get a lot more SHB and it will help the bees control them.


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## Scitfrostbite

I've seen a few SHB this season here in my Hopkinton hives for the first time. Not crazy about the thought of having to deal with infestations. Thanks for the heads up!

No robbing that I could see up until this weekend. I think the cold nights have upped their sense of desperation for getting food for the winter. Now feeding all hives , will weigh in a week or so.


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## Scitfrostbite

Connection did a hiccup, sorry for duplication 

I've seen a few SHB this season here in my Hopkinton hives for the first time. Not crazy about the thought of having to deal with infestations. Thanks for the heads up!

No robbing that I could see up until this weekend. I think the cold nights have upped their sense of desperation for getting food for the winter. Now feeding all hives , will weigh in a week or so.


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## Scitfrostbite

For those of you MA Folks that weigh hives, do you have a overall double deep weight for bottom board to tele cover? Thank you in advance for any help with this question.

I bought a scale and the system of lifting front and backside and adding together seems fairly accurate. Most of the target numbers I've seen online are for other parts of the country or different set ups (other than common two deep set up for MA).


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## scituatema

This year I have seen more small SHB, especially in my Hingham location.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Bob - That's bad news for all of us, concerning your SHB. Have not heard of a significant problem with them here.
> 
> If only one of your hives got robbed out, you don't think the dead bee mass could have been a pesticide source they got into, do you?


Definitely the dead were due to the robbing.... Part of the problem with only visiting the outyards once a week is that the robbers had a number of days to do it and it was all recorded on my broodminder.... Roughly 15 pounds a day for a total of 65 pounds robbed out and it was ongoing when we made our regular weekly visit so the hive was still putting up a fight.... Unfortunately our corrective actions then were too little too late.....:-(


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## Bob J

camero7 said:


> Bob, get some unscented swifter pads, cut them in strips and put several at the back and sides of the top box. You'll catch a few bees but you'll get a lot more SHB and it will help the bees control them.


Thanks Cam, will give that a try... Sounds much easier to use than the traps (beetle blasters) I am using now...

The beetle blasters were all full of beetles so they definitely work but there were just too many.... One of the interesting things I saw that I forgot to mention is that they didn't slime any of the honey... The beetles were swarming the brood and the pollen stores.... Was definitely not consistent with what I have read and heard....


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## Bob J

Scitfrostbite said:


> For those of you MA Folks that weigh hives, do you have a overall double deep weight for bottom board to tele cover? Thank you in advance for any help with this question.
> 
> I bought a scale and the system of lifting front and backside and adding together seems fairly accurate. Most of the target numbers I've seen online are for other parts of the country or different set ups (other than common two deep set up for MA).


From my setups a double deep with screened bottom board, slatted rack, built out frames, inner cover and standard telescoping cover would be roughly 52#. Much depends on what frames and woodenware you are using. The best thing to do would be to weight your own setup on a bathroom scale just to be sure....


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## Scitfrostbite

Bob J said:


> From my setups a double deep with screened bottom board, slatted rack, built out frames, inner cover and standard telescoping cover would be roughly 52#. Much depends on what frames and woodenware you are using. The best thing to do would be to weight your own setup on a bathroom scale just to be sure....



Bob J- Thanks. So are you saying you want to see 100+ (woodenware 52 and 48lbs honey/syrup) total weight or are you looking for around 150lbs total weight (52 wooden ware, 100 honey/syrup)?

I've heard other numbers online like a winter target of 125lbs total weight. I weighed two hives yesterday and they were both around 140lbs total weight (double deeps). I have been feeding these two hives.


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## camero7

My experience is that it's not only the weight but the size of the cluster. I have taken many nucs through the winter with much less weight than that, some single 5 framers. But they are full of syrup/honey and feel like a cement block when you lift them. Never weighed them. So you need to evaluate the colony size and then determine how much feed you'll need in the hive.


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## Bob J

Scitfrostbite said:


> Bob J- Thanks. So are you saying you want to see 100+ (woodenware 52 and 48lbs honey/syrup) total weight or are you looking for around 150lbs total weight (52 wooden ware, 100 honey/syrup)?
> 
> I've heard other numbers online like a winter target of 125lbs total weight. I weighed two hives yesterday and they were both around 140lbs total weight (double deeps). I have been feeding these two hives.


Lots of different opinions and approaches..... A lot depends on where you are located, bee genetics and your general management style.... For my situation I am looking for a total gross weight of 150#+ for my hives to over winter... This includes everything from the bottomboard up (woodenware + bees + stores)... As Cam points out this for my hives and not my nucs.... Will first redistribute honey from the hives that are well above that and then feed 2:1 to build up the difference... I use gallon cans and feed all at once (as much as possible) estimating a gallon for every 11# of weight needed.

The 100# is mainly starting early to ensure my weaker hives don't starve.... It's been a brutal fall and I have been hoping for some flow but it now does not look likely for where my outyards are located... Talked to another beek the other day who was located near a wetlands with acres of goldenrod who is concerned about being honey bound.... Much depends on your local conditions and situation....


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## kaizen

Weather will be rainy most of the week. With all the bees inside I'm making sure I stay on top of keeping the feeders full.


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## kaizen

went out to a yard today. tons of yellow and orange pollen coming in. more then half returning foragers were stuffed with it. however they are medium size hives and sucked down 2 gallons of 2-1 in 6 days. only one still had some left.


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## clyderoad

Bob J said:


> t and then feed 2:1 to build up the difference... I use gallon cans and feed all at once (as much as possible) estimating a gallon for every 11# of weight needed.


you may be overestimating the yield of cured 2:1 sugar syrup. It's more like 7 or 8 lbs/gal.
hfcs may yield 11 lbs or so, although I've never fed it.


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## NewbeeInNH

Today was a great day to feed. Mid 60s, sunny, the foragers were all out. One of my larger hives barely touched the top hive feeder from last time which is very strange. I had already refilled it once when it was empty just like everyone else. This time tho, barely touched. Hmmmmmm. Take your losses in the fall, they say. This may be one of those.

Now they'll be set for the rainy weekend. Next week I'll feed em again, 3rd round.


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## clyderoad

NewbeeInNH said:


> Today was a great day to feed. Mid 60s, sunny, the foragers were all out. One of my larger hives barely touched the top hive feeder from last time which is very strange. I had already refilled it once when it was empty just like everyone else. This time tho, barely touched. Hmmmmmm. Take your losses in the fall, they say. This may be one of those.
> 
> Now they'll be set for the rainy weekend. Next week I'll feed em again, 3rd round.


could be due to a few factors like better nectar source in the field or no more room to store wet sugar water until they cure some of it.


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## NewbeeInNH

I like the way you think, clyderoad.


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## grantsbees

On days below 55 and damp, these girls stay in their hive. Wednesday was one of those days in Central MA. Yesterday, they were out foraging (60's). Seeing the cold, wet trend this week, the Fall flow isn't looking too promising.


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## camero7

What fall flow. A little pollen coming in but not much nectar. It's over for the year.


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## Bob J

Finally a break with several days of measurable rain. Weather continues to cool noticeably. Daytime highs were 57-70F with the nighttime lows 46-59F. Month rain (September/October) is 1.21/.66" and YTD is 18.09".... 

Bees are working goldenrod and not much else..... Some asters are out....

Hives finally gained a little weight last week which is amazing given the lousy foraging weather..... This week should be better foraging with several days predicted to be sunny..... Have now converted over to feeding 2:1 to winter weight for those hives that are too light (<150# net weight). Very little pollen on the bottom boards which is in sharp contrast to previous weeks...

Continuing with the OAV treatments as some hives are still showing a significant mite drop.... Not surprisingly these are the hives that are still showing signs of significant brood.... 

Several hives are showing small ants so that looks to be the next potential battle. Have already converted one yard over a month or so ago to an "ant proof" stand design based on the beesource thread with the similar title. So far it has proven to work exceptionally well. The design uses high temperature grease packed into a PVC pipe cap drilled to accept a pipe that forms the legs of the stand. Ants won't cross it and an added benefit is that the design makes leveling the stand very easy... Only thing you have to watch is to make sure that no plants grown so that they touch the stand that the ants can use to cross.... 









Found a number of dead bees just inside the robber screen for each one of my Needham outyard hives. Based on the location of the dead I've come to the conclusion that they were caught by surprise and chilled by one of the frequent rain showers we had over the past few days. Based on this will be removing the robber screens and converting over to standard entrance reducers set for the smallest opening for those hives. 

No reported swarms this week.


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## camero7

Here's a copy of the email I just sent Heilyser and the manufacturer. I am afraid I bought a piece of junk. If it won't hold up to today there is no hope it will hold up under heavy use.

_Ron and Heinz,

I followed the directions carefully. I allowed it to dry for about a week - due to weather conditions here - went out to treat this afternoon. I treated one hive and the acid bucket came loose. There was no jarring or dropping of the vaporizer. Seems like the heat made it separate. 

What now? _


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## Mike01876

Cam, I also am leaning towards having buyers remorse on the Heilyser JB700. I only used it once, on Sunday to OAV 50 hives, and already the handle is wiggly. In addition, I had to take it apart and manually push the fan with my finger to get it moving about half way through my run after realizing I was successfully smoking my body with OAV but little else! I am now grateful I got the full face mask, that is all I will say about that.

I got my JB700 a month or so ago, so it is surely the original version without the replaced glue. As I look at it, I think I am not long behind you and will be forced to find a solution to re-glue the acid bucket to the body. I should have waited until they worked out the kinks, I often find myself on the bleeding edge of technology/design!

Please let us know what Ron/Heinz suggest!


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## kaizen

I'm seeing no pollen any more compared to six days ago. Two hives that are my biggest look on the verge of starving. They both had about fifty pounds of honey a month ago and now all those combs are bone dry. I had to put a bucket out to open feed till I can get back there with some feeders. The rest are taking 2-1 at about two gallons a week on average
Leaving I saw this. Hopefully it is my Irish luck


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## frogpondwarrior

Flow and pollen still going today. Expecting hard (first) frost tonight. The end I'm afraid.
All hives heavy and have not had to feed yet. Going to spin out a few frames Wed to give them room and probably will start feeding shortly. All 4 hives are almost full double deeps with full honey suppers on top. The only areas not full are outside frames that did not get completely drawn. Lots of bees but brood areas growing smaller. Will spin the few frames to give them room to work so I can continue to get brood into the cold weather.
R2


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## camero7

Here's the response:

Hi Cam,
This can happen if there is an air bubble trapped under the acid bucket within the adhesive. When the bucket heats up it expands the air within the adhesive and pops the bucket off. I think the best way forward is to send you a metal clip that can be used to secure the acid bucket to the ceramic tile. Heinz, can you bend up a clip for Cam and send it, or would you prefer that I do that?
Best regards, Ron


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## Mike01876

Duplicate Post - deleted.


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## wfournier

My Varrox has been solid, I'm not treating as many hives but it seems like it should hold up.


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## kaizen

frogpondwarrior said:


> Flow and pollen still going today. Expecting hard (first) frost tonight. The end I'm afraid.
> All hives heavy and have not had to feed yet. Going to spin out a few frames Wed to give them room and probably will start feeding shortly. All 4 hives are almost full double deeps with full honey suppers on top. The only areas not full are outside frames that did not get completely drawn. Lots of bees but brood areas growing smaller. Will spin the few frames to give them room to work so I can continue to get brood into the cold weather.
> R2


why would you extract and then feed? are you out of equipment? i'd order some frames and foundation, give it to them if they need room, and then put back the capped frames later. wish I was in your position


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## Bob J

camero7 said:


> Here's a copy of the email I just sent Heilyser and the manufacturer. I am afraid I bought a piece of junk. If it won't hold up to today there is no hope it will hold up under heavy use.
> 
> _Ron and Heinz,
> 
> I followed the directions carefully. I allowed it to dry for about a week - due to weather conditions here - went out to treat this afternoon. I treated one hive and the acid bucket came loose. There was no jarring or dropping of the vaporizer. Seems like the heat made it separate.
> 
> What now? _


Knock on wood mine has been good so far.... I probably have roughly a hundred hive treatments so far on it and it seems to have held up well.... What I have seen so far:

- Something was interfering with the fan at one point. Contacted Ron and Heinz as I thought the fan might be going out. Based on their recommendation I took it apart and found the white wire to the fan was the issue.... Tucked it under the heater and so far has been good... Next time I open it to clean will probably add a piece of foam or RTV to ensure it stays in place.

- Heater at one point took a fair amount of time to come to temperature. Found out I need to charge my battery after each full set of treatments. Has not been a problem since.

- I have been treating from the back of the hive and trying to angle the nozzle up to better fog the brood nest. My wife noticed that I am wasting a fair amount of vapor using this technique as it blows out the front robber screen. Going forward I plan on covering the entrance with a rag and seeing if I can fab up some alternative nozzle designs that are more effective in driving the vapor up into the hive. Since I don't want to hack up my existing nozzle I went to Ron to see if I can buy some replacements. He responded "You need to go to your local hardware store and get 2" built-in pvc vacuum tubing. This should be available virtually everywhere. For shaping, we find that heating it in boiling water softens it enough to do many interesting things" so will be trying some alternative nozzle designs in the near future.

- Had the unfortunate opportunity to tip the vaporizer forward during one pass and the molten oxalic coated the inner surface of the nozzle. Now I understand why you really need to be careful holding it level. Cleaned up fine with a damp cloth but was still a PIA.

Bob


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## kaizen

What are ya'll seeing for brooding? All my nucs have or are shutting down from the looks of it. I was hoping for some more bee growth


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## Bob J

kaizen said:


> What are ya'll seeing for brooding? All my nucs have or are shutting down from the looks of it. I was hoping for some more bee growth


My carni's have all cut back but my Italians are still going full bore....


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## camero7

Bear or ****. I'm thinking ****. Perimeter fence, was not pushed down or broken. Just one nuc out of many. Guesses. Electric fence going up today!


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## frogpondwarrior

kaizen said:


> why would you extract and then feed? are you out of equipment? i'd order some frames and foundation, give it to them if they need room, and then put back the capped frames later. wish I was in your position


I have plenty of equip. Just scared that they will completely fill brood areas with nectar and will have no brood for winter....I have no active mentor & our bees arrived June 17th so we have only a few months experience. 
They are not making wax so I thought frames with foundation were useless this time of year. 
Even worst due to 11 work shifts( including 6 nights) in a row I will do my first extraction tomorrow. 4 to 6 frames and nothing from brood boxes. Have a lot of bees and thought maybe it would keep them busy cleaning. Another newbie near me got no honey in his supers so we can't even compare notes. 
Have not seen the queen in two out of 4 hives this summer but sill have some capped brood in all as of Friday when we treated with OA. 
Temp tonight is now 37f
Just as a note I lifted my deeps today they are lighter than last Friday. Maybe as much as 20 %. Day temps ok but cold at night and we have had two plus days of rain. The first frost hit but not as hard as expected but the end will be Thursday night when it will be 32f.
Maybe I won't extract????................
R2


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## NewbeeInNH

Wow Camero, sorry to see that! As if trying to get them up to weight hasn't been hard enough... Do ***** spread them out like that? Certainly don't look nearly as destroyed as mine did when they got hit by a bear - then the woodenware was broken and the comb was largely eaten out. 
===
I've been feeding all my hives 2:1. I put the excess into open feeders, but have noticed a lot of dead bees in the open feeders. Don't know what that's all about, but it's not worth it if they're going to die at the open feeders, from now on it's just hive feeders. There doesn't appear to be any robbing, so that's good.


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## Bob J

Nice rain this week with the help of the remnants of Matthew. Fall continues to settle in with Daytime highs 62-69F with the nighttime lows 45-56F. Areas to the west of us had first frost warnings this week. Month rain (October) is 1.95" and YTD is 19.38".... 

Bees continue to work goldenrod and asters....

Hives that I am not feeding continue to gain a slight amount of weight but not enough to make a significant difference... Continue to feed all my light hives and they are gaining weight nicely. Will shoot to have the feeding done by Halloween. 

Continuing with the OAV treatments on a few hives that are still showing a significant mite drop.... Got the 2" vacuum pipe in earlier in the week so I can experiment with different nozzle configurations with the JB700 but haven't had a chance to do it yet. 

No reported swarms this week.


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## camero7

NewbeeInNH said:


> Wow Camero, sorry to see that! As if trying to get them up to weight hasn't been hard enough... Do ***** spread them out like that? Certainly don't look nearly as destroyed as mine did when they got hit by a bear - then the woodenware was broken and the comb was largely eaten out.


Only the comb with brood was eaten... no evidence of a bear. Yes, ***** will destroy a hive. they're deadly on mating nucs. Most of the frames were plastic, so it doesn't show how they were eaten down to the plastic.


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## NewbeeInNH

Filled the feeders again today. Takes about an hour, by the time I make the syrup and drag it into the hives. I don't know how much longer the weather will hold out for feeding here. I noticed the top feeders that hold 2-3 gallons are slowing down. Today was a beauty, tomorrow looks drizzly so I hope they spend the day packing that 2:1 into cells. Still saw golden pollen coming in to some of the hives, not all, maybe the ones that have shut down brooding don't need it. Pretty soon it will be time to remove feeders, put sugar slabs in, cover with a quilt box, wrap in foam insulation, and say goodbye until January thaw.


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## NewbeeInNH

My forecast is showing days in the low 70s coming up (one forecast just says Wednesday, another source says Sunday through Wednesday) so that's good news for feeding temps.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> My forecast is showing days in the low 70s coming up (one forecast just says Wednesday, another source says Sunday through Wednesday) so that's good news for feeding temps.


I'm pretty much in the same situation..... Waited too late really hoping for some flow relief and am now trying to catch up.... Not too much time and weather left.... Ran short of gallon cans so was trying to feed up with 2 gallons per hive but yesterday broke down and bought more cans.... This weekend will reload what's out there and add enough extra gallons to bring them up to full winter weight.... Hopefully they will be able to get it down before everything comes off at the end of the month....


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## Bob J

camero7 said:


> Bear or ****. I'm thinking ****. Perimeter fence, was not pushed down or broken. Just one nuc out of many. Guesses. Electric fence going up today!


So sorry to see this Cam..... Knew about bears but had no idea a raccoon could do that much damage!


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## kaizen

Bob J said:


> I'm pretty much in the same situation..... Waited too late really hoping for some flow relief and am now trying to catch up.... Not too much time and weather left.... Ran short of gallon cans so was trying to feed up with 2 gallons per hive but yesterday broke down and bought more cans.... This weekend will reload what's out there and add enough extra gallons to bring them up to full winter weight.... Hopefully they will be able to get it down before everything comes off at the end of the month....


When does all in the area or north take off feeders if they are not up to weight? Last year my first year I had them on till mid November before they stopped. but I know that year was abnormally warm.


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## NewbeeInNH

Since it's the start of a 4 day warm spell, I refilled my feeders today. Actually the only empty was one nuc - all the other hives had a good deal of their syrup left, so I'll check the quart feeders again tomorrow (not the hive top feeders - I think they're good to go until the bitter end). But I was surprised that the hives are still bringing in pollen. I was surprised they could even find pollen, we've had a couple hard freezes. This was yellow and pale yellow. I would doubt they're still brooding, so I wonder if they're collecting it for spring brood.


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## Sunday Farmer

NewbeeInNH said:


> Since it's the start of a 4 day warm spell, I refilled my feeders today. Actually the only empty was one nuc - all the other hives had a good deal of their syrup left, so I'll check the quart feeders again tomorrow (not the hive top feeders - I think they're good to go until the bitter end). But I was surprised that the hives are still bringing in pollen. I was surprised they could even find pollen, we've had a couple hard freezes. This was yellow and pale yellow. I would doubt they're still brooding, so I wonder if they're collecting it for spring brood.


Small patches of eggs still in double nucs upstate New York


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## SeaCucumber

I am living in Lowell, Ma. I have a chain link fence that I would like gone. It could be a semi-free solution to your problem. I am a newbie with 6 hives (all mediums, foundationless, 3-5 boxes each, 2 are treatment free). The hives are in Hamilton and Topsfield. I would like to sell queens and nucs next year.


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## Bob J

Nice weather this week with a spell of warmer weather. Daytime highs 57-73F with the nighttime lows 41-51F. Month rain (October) is 1.95" and YTD is 19.38".... 

Bees continue to work goldenrod and asters.... Lots of orange pollen being brought in....

All hives that I am not feeding lost weight this week. Last weekend put on the final round of 2:1 (hopefully) to bring them to winter weight... One more hive had a serious robbing incident through the notch in the inner cover. Lots of dead bees. My next check will tell whether the hive is completely gone or whether there is enough left to do anything with. All my robbing screens have been reduced to the small top opening but I thought the notch was small enough to be effectively defended. Guess I was wrong... Things must be pretty desperate out there with the drought. Duct taped over the notch on all the hives to prevent a reoccurrence. 

Continuing with the OAV treatments on a few hives that are still showing a significant mite drop.... 

No reported swarms this week.


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## NewbeeInNH

Raise your hand if you're disappointed in the weather today. Not what was forecasted, and here anyway it's about 55F, so probably not a real lot of syrup digesting going on. Tomorrow remains my last hope for enough warmth for them to really pack some comb, and after that it looks like it's all downhill.

Filled a couple of quart feeders yesterday (again), but most of the feeders were not looking very empty. Maybe the bees are sick of the syrup anyway.

Colors sure are beautiful tho. Can't beat this fall in my area for that.


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## kaizen

i'm, using European hive top feeders that normally sit above the inner cover. but as i'm behind on my equipment building I've been running some hives with just a flat top cover. so when I started feeding I put these feeders sitting on top of the frames. Last I went to fill them the temps were cold and when I opened the top of it I saw vapor escape like our breath in cold temps. going to bring an instant temp thermometer this week and see exactly how warm that syrup is. wondering if because liquid holds heat that its as warm as the cluster/hive and they will take it longer as opposed to feed exposed to cold temps every night.


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## NewbeeInNH

You reminded me, I forgot to take my inner covers off and had put 2 top feeders right on top of inner covers. Meant to take them off. Maybe tomorrow, altho it's probably too late now.


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## NHCOR

NewbeeInNH said:


> Raise your hand if you're disappointed in the weather today. Not what was forecasted, and here anyway it's about 55F, so probably not a real lot of syrup digesting going on. Tomorrow remains my last hope for enough warmth for them to really pack some comb, and after that it looks like it's all downhill.
> 
> Filled a couple of quart feeders yesterday (again), but most of the feeders were not looking very empty. Maybe the bees are sick of the syrup anyway.
> 
> Colors sure are beautiful tho. Can't beat this fall in my area for that.


I'll raise my hand for that 75 - 55 what's the diffence! I'm hoping tomorrow we hit the 70 degree mark.


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## Scitfrostbite

Several weeks ago my four hive were all near/at/above target weight of 150lbs gross in double deeps and I was fading out feeding. Today weights were 108, 131, 137, 154lbs gross. That's losses of about 10 to 30lbs over the last two weeks. I assume this is too much lost weight to be just evaporation, probably more a combo of evaporation, some robbing, and hunger. Will put gal feeders back on one more time in this warm weather this week.

Inner cover entrances duct taped closed and bottom board entrances down to about 2". I am still seeing a little robbing but no frenzies. 

This drought had my bees super defensive in August and September but finally they seem calm.

My county beek association recommends OAV at Thanksgiving, is this what others plan to do?


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## kaizen

I just hung some yellow jacket traps in my nuc yard yesterday. noticed their was a lot of activity from the bees in and out through the robber screen and a few small yj would just casually be wandering around with no bees going after them. 
i'll be doing oav a few times starting in early November. Really depends on the temps. My bees are always infuriated when I do oav and most take flight so don't want them to freeze. 
thinking i'm going to keep feeding till the ground is frozen! i'm going to have a majority of small hive populations so hoping if they have sufficient feed and no mites I might get them through.


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## kaizen

duplicate post


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## Bob J

Scitfrostbite said:


> My county beek association recommends OAV at Thanksgiving, is this what others plan to do?


I will be OAV treating sometime after Thanksgiving depending on the temperatures.... I need to make sure before I do that they have all shut down brood rearing.... A number of my hives are still raising significant brood and until that is done mites will continue to evade the treatments....


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## kaizen

24 hours later hopefully population of robber potentials are reduced


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## NewbeeInNH

Can you believe yesterday? Wow. Beautiful. Topped off all the quart feeders. Didn't have the heart to go thru any of the hives at this point - they've probably already started propalising for winter. Now all I can do is let them sit until it's time to wrap them up for winter. Then it's up to them to survive until spring, and I'll be crossing my fingers. Last year in September a bear knocked 4 of them over and those did not survive the winter. This year if I have any losses, it won't be from bears. First year wintering nucs, and the nuc boxes will be squeezed together and wrapped as one unit. 

Going into winter: One 5-medium, two 4-medium, one 3-medium (I'd be surprised if that one made it) hives, three 2-medium hives (basically nucs), and four double story nucs. (That's 11 altogether) If the nucs survive the winter, next summer I'd like to get more nuc equipment and overwinter more of them.


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## Bob J

It has certainly been nice to see the warm spell... I'm still trying to feed up a couple of my hives so it sure came in handy! Rain in the forecast for tomorrow and Saturday so looks like Sunday to work the yards....


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## NewbeeInNH

Bob - Just clicked on your facebook link. Did you make those candles? Those are beautiful.


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## Bob J

Thanks! My son makes those and he has it down to a fine art.... Great way to use the extra capping wax after extracting.... We've done experimental burns to properly size the wicks and it's amazing how long beeswax candles burn! My understanding is that the beeswax is the reason many churches kept bees.... Makes a long burning votive with no soot (if the wick is properly sized).... He also makes lip balm (still in the trial stages) and Soap.... Busy guy....;- )


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## NewbeeInNH

Chatted with some friends at bee club tonight, they had the experience I did, in August they checked their hives and zero stores. One of my friends almost never feeds her bees, but this year she is. I hadn't realized that nectar is 70ish or 80ish% water, that's why there was so little nectar produced by plants. They did report seeing plenty of pollen coming in tho, which I have also noticed.


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## camero7

I got the new JB700







from Heinz yesterday afternoon. Here are some photos. there are some changes, the acid tray is now permanently attached to the housing with clips and cement. Some changes in the wiring and the input wire that was breaking is now cemented in and seems like it will be fine. Raining today but I'll try it out Sunday when the rain stops.


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## AAIndigo

Still feeding here in Franklin/Dover/Sheborn Ma. Looks like Sunday is the day. Mixing up 500+lbs of sugar of 2 to 1 syrup, armed with mixed up bepro patties if needed (but feel they may not want them) tomorrow when the rain clears. The Drought has killed me this year. 

Archie


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## camero7

We got over 4" of much needed rain last night... too late for this year but a good start on next year.


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## kaizen

Found my colonies reducing 2-1 intake from 2 gallons a week to 1. sorry to say as I have 40gallons mixed up. Still waiting on some feeders and I tried open feeding about 20 feet from the hives. guessing it triggered some battles as the hives there as they were very agitated. one little vibration and they came looking for a fight. saw a few bald faced hornets in the feed bucket along with 100s of bees. with 50's down to nightly 30s I don't think mine will get in enough feed. when do you take off feeders if not up to weight?


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## NewbeeInNH

kaizen - what about filling the comb with the 2:1 directly, since you have so much extra? I see some threads on beesource about the method and it seems to work, altho there are some questions about what to use to fill the frames so the surface tension gets reduced. One thread I'm seeing you actually made a comment on: http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?317034-Pour-syrup-directly-into-drawn-comb I believe I've seen other threads mentioning it also.

It looks like it's getting mighty chilly this week, near 50 and under for the foreseeable future... Party's almost over. I'm thinking about wrapping my hives in the next couple weeks.


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## kaizen

NewbeeInNH said:


> kaizen - what about filling the comb with the 2:1 directly, since you have so much extra? I see some threads on beesource about the method and it seems to work, altho there are some questions about what to use to fill the frames so the surface tension gets reduced. One thread I'm seeing you actually made a comment on: http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?317034-Pour-syrup-directly-into-drawn-comb I believe I've seen other threads mentioning it also.
> 
> It looks like it's getting mighty chilly this week, near 50 and under for the foreseeable future... Party's almost over. I'm thinking about wrapping my hives in the next couple weeks.


I've thought about doing that and don't like the idea. even 2-1 isn't anywhere near the consistency of honey. so after putting it in and then inserting it into a warm hive will most likely cause it to run......with my luck drown the queen. Other issues would be mold as it will dramatically increase moisture in the hive and fermentation which can easily happen in an 80 degree hive. I have thought about pouring honey that I have in some frames and sealing it with some beeswax but imagined the mess and backed away from that idea quickly. i'm holding out for daytime temps 40's and below before I call it. not quite there yet. I've resolved that what they do they do. In retrospect I don't think I would have done anything differently besides maybe feeding 1-1 in the spring. it was just a horrible year for me with no dandelion or goldenrod flow. going to move into making candy soon for winter. guessing they are going to be 100 percent living on it by xmas.


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## Bob J

Nice rain this week but unfortunately too late to help with getting the hives built up. Fall continues to settle in with Daytime highs 58-77F with the nighttime lows 45-61F. A few days of warmer weather was nice as it helped the hives take the syrup but now we are back to cooler temps. Month rain (October) is 3.11" and YTD is 20.54".... 

Bees continue to work goldenrod and asters....

No significant weight gain this week except for the hives I'm feeding. 

Lost another hive this week that had been weakened due to robbing. Lost a second one that has plenty of weight and virtually no bees. No sign of robbing or dead bees. Some capped brood but not much else. This hive was booming last week. No idea what happened.....

No reported swarms this week.


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## NewbeeInNH

Wow, Bob, an abscond. I've never experienced that, but it's such a head scratcher.

We are completely out of goldenrod and asters here. If the bees are flying, I don't know what they'd possibly get.


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## Bob J

Yea, is pretty weird especially will all the robbing and such going on... This was a big hive that was already at winter weight with 166 pounds gross weight and very active.... Inside nothing was touched.... It must have happened pretty recently as there was no sign of robbing.... Other hives in the yard are fine.... A real head scratcher....


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## NewbeeInNH

You have to worry about where an abscond might settle just as winter is about to set in.


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## Steve_G

This has definitely been a strange year.
2-hives, been feeding 2:1 with a top feeders since late Sept, already gone through 2 gal per hive.
Inspected 1 hive yesterday and still have an empty frame on the top, thought with all this sugar water they would have at least filled it in w/ comb.
Plan to place another gal into the top feeders and not touch until late Nov when I put on the candy boards and wrap the hives.
Bee's are flying, but what they are getting is a good question.

Steve_G
Mass/RI Boarder


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## NewbeeInNH

At some point, and we may have already passed it, unfortunately I only have a vague memory hearing this, the bees stop storing the syrup for winter, and just use what's there for current consumption. Does anyone know when that date might be? I think it's a matter of them not capping anymore, but I can't quite remember.


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## kaizen

NewbeeInNH said:


> At some point, and we may have already passed it, unfortunately I only have a vague memory hearing this, the bees stop storing the syrup for winter, and just use what's there for current consumption. Does anyone know when that date might be? I think it's a matter of them not capping anymore, but I can't quite remember.


That's the magical date. Well the magical weather. I believe its dependent on outside temps. So if we had 60's all winter i'm betting they would keep eating the syrup. As the outside temps approach consistent 30-40's they don't break cluster so they stop feeding. on days that get into the 50's the bees will break to eat but the syrup would be frozen which is why I change over to sugar blocks. Temps around me are mid 50s for the next 2 weeks so i'll keep it on at least that long.


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## Bob J

I agree with Terrance.... For me it's all about the temperature.... When it gets too cool (<50F or so) they won't touch it. I feed with gallon cans directly on the top bars so the heat of the hive tends to keep the cans warmer and that extends the season a bit.... It will be different if you are using a top feeder but a frame feeder should give you similar (or better) results... The other consideration is that I would like to have them be able to cure and cap it before they hard cluster.... Last year was warm so I could continue to feed successfully into late November.... Right now am watching the forecast but unless there is a warm spell projected will stop feeding this weekend.... If any are still light will leave them some fondant....


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## NewbeeInNH

It's looking like it will warm up again into the low/mid 50s starting this weekend.


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## markus2

Yesterday I inspected and realized that I unfortunately waited too long to inspect (vacations & other priorities) and now realize that my 5 hives seem to be low on stores. My plan is to install electric supplemental heaters on all hives and regulate the internal temperatures to around 70 - 80 deg F so that the internal air temperature can hopefully heat the sugar syrup (1 gallon top feeders) and I'm hoping they will store it into the empty cells.


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## wildbranch2007

markus2 said:


> Yesterday I inspected and realized that I unfortunately waited too long to inspect (vacations & other priorities) and now realize that my 5 hives seem to be low on stores. My plan is to install electric supplemental heaters on all hives and regulate the internal temperatures to around 70 - 80 deg F so that the internal air temperature can hopefully heat the sugar syrup (1 gallon top feeders) and I'm hoping they will store it into the empty cells.


on the feeders or in the hives themselves? they may start or continue brood raising, in any case you might want to also do something about pollen.


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## NewbeeInNH

I wonder if keeping them closer to 60F would encourage syrup storage while not encouraging brooding or flying out of the hive, expecting warm weather.

Also, can't you keep them alive through the winter with only sugar bricks? I'm thinking if you kept the hive filled with sugar bricks, that might be enough, in a pinch. Just make sure they don't run out.


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## markus2

I intend to heat the hives from the bottom with the assumption that it will heat the syrup containers. I will regulate the heat to a desired level (not sure yet of what that temperature will be). That's a good suggestion. I will order some pollen patties also. Thanks! 

Yes, I'll start off with 60 F and see how that works out. I've never used sugar bricks but I'll do a little research on that. Thank you!


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## Bob J

Cool and rainy this week. Daytime highs 48-59F with the nighttime lows 37-48F. Month rain (October) is 4.14" and YTD is 21.57 

Everything appears to be gone now that most areas have had a hard frost.... Some goldenrod near the shore but that's about it....

Stopped feeding syrup to most hives this week.... Temperatures are too cool in my yards to support syrup and with the current rainy spells am concerned about hive moisture....

Lost another hive this week again due to robbing. Have robbing screens in place on all my hives with only the small upper opening open but it still proved to be enough for them to get in and decimate the hive. Large quantities of dead bees just inside the robber screen that I had to clear out was pretty depressing....


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## kaizen

I've had a few days of flying weather and strangely some hives are content to just stay inside. I had a few flying but the others seem to have just given up. not even taking syrup.


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## Scitfrostbite

Noticed a lot of mites in one hive this weekend so went ahead and did OAV on all hives. Had planned on waiting to Thanksgiving but after seeing mites and hearing about a neighbor losing a hive to mite infestation related viruses even after treating in July, I bumped up scheduled OAV. I think I might still do originally scheduled treatment around December 1st. 

Sunday I put warmed quarts of syrup on all hives, one hive sucked it down in hours, the others didn't touch it. Weights holding steady from 107lbs to about 160lbs.

I might use warm Wednesday to convert hives to winter mode with shims and quilts.

Good to know what I am experiencing is similar to others. Reading everyone's MA posts here is really helpful. thank you.


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## kaizen

Scitfrostbite said:


> Noticed a lot of mites in one hive this weekend so went ahead and did OAV on all hives. Had planned on waiting to Thanksgiving but after seeing mites and hearing about a neighbor losing a hive to mite infestation related viruses even after treating in July, I bumped up scheduled OAV. I think I might still do originally scheduled treatment around December 1st.
> 
> Sunday I put warmed quarts of syrup on all hives, one hive sucked it down in hours, the others didn't touch it. Weights holding steady from 107lbs to about 160lbs.
> 
> I might use warm Wednesday to convert hives to winter mode with shims and quilts.
> 
> Good to know what I am experiencing is similar to others. Reading everyone's MA posts here is really helpful. thank you.


for my home yard hives where I can run power I just ordered some small aquarium heaters.....i'm desperate. I have 2 gallon plastic sealed top feeders so going to drop them in there and see if it helps. i'm encouraged from the insulated/warmed syrup results seen on posts here recently. I also treated and winterized one out yard as the access is plowed under soon and didn't want to pack mule in all my winter stuff. plan on oav again thanksgiving as well.


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## Bob J

My outyards are a bit more accessible so I am going to wait until the weather gets colder and the bees hard cluster before winterizing.... All my insulated winter shims have a top entrance hole and given the problems I've had with robbing, even with small entrances that can be easily defended, I hate to open anything up that would need to be defended.... I consider the real benefit of the winter shims to be felt later in the season (Jan/Feb) when winter really sets in so I don't consider a delay at this point to be a problem...


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## Scitfrostbite

Bob J said:


> My outyards are a bit more accessible so I am going to wait until the weather gets colder and the bees hard cluster before winterizing.... All my insulated winter shims have a top entrance hole and given the problems I've had with robbing, even with small entrances that can be easily defended, I hate to open anything up that would need to be defended.... I consider the real benefit of the winter shims to be felt later in the season (Jan/Feb) when winter really sets in so I don't consider a delay at this point to be a problem...


Good suggestions, thanks. Maybe I'll hold off a little longer on the shims. I did still see a little fighting at the entrance of one hive on this past Sunday so some robbing still going on. I duct taped my upper inner cover entrances a month or so ago to discourage robbing but now I'm starting to worry about moisture build up as it gets cooler so might go ahead with quilts.


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## kaizen

one of the hives I tucked in had an upper entrance that they were all using for the most part. thought about taping it off totally but instead put a nuc robbing screen over it. I saw some huge bald face hornets and I built these with only opening only 3/8 for one bee at a time so thinking they hornet won't even be able to fit through. yellow jackets are all over the place. small ones too like they were just hatched recently. I did delight in seeing 3 bees ripping one apart.


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## Mike01876

I feel like we have run out of time for feeding syrup, so we are leaving a large amount of fondant on top when we close them up this weekend. Most of our hives are at winter weight, but a few just never made it. I just don't have the time and I can't convince my wife to make candy boards anymore, so we get our fondant from the bulk section of goldenbarrel dot com. 

We buy several 50lb boxes of 90/10 creme fondant with absolutely no added ingredients beyond sugar, corn syrup and water. It seems to work fine. The list price is $32.15 for a 50lb box, we usually wait for their 15% off coupons via email.

Shipping does increase the total cost, but with the 15% off coupon, shipped to us here in MA it is around $43 per box, less than a dollar per pound. Interestingly, MA is in the next day zone for ground service, so I can hear the UPS guy swearing as he carries it up my driveway the very next afternoon! 

I have a few friends who buy the same blocks from a warehouse somewhere up on the north shore, but their cost is even higher, so I save a few bucks and have it delivered to my house instead. I hope this helps those that are light on weight and looking to add fondant but need more than a few pounds!


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## trishbookworm

I have seen that too - a hive last year that had plenty of stores and lots of bees. It was my first year and I thought they'd died! Nope, nothing to do so they stayed home.


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## Bob J

Mike01876 said:


> I feel like we have run out of time for feeding syrup, so we are leaving a large amount of fondant on top when we close them up this weekend. Most of our hives are at winter weight, but a few just never made it. I just don't have the time and I can't convince my wife to make candy boards anymore, so we get our fondant from the bulk section of goldenbarrel dot com.
> 
> We buy several 50lb boxes of 90/10 creme fondant with absolutely no added ingredients beyond sugar, corn syrup and water. It seems to work fine. The list price is $32.15 for a 50lb box, we usually wait for their 15% off coupons via email.
> 
> Shipping does increase the total cost, but with the 15% off coupon, shipped to us here in MA it is around $43 per box, less than a dollar per pound. Interestingly, MA is in the next day zone for ground service, so I can hear the UPS guy swearing as he carries it up my driveway the very next afternoon!
> 
> I have a few friends who buy the same blocks from a warehouse somewhere up on the north shore, but their cost is even higher, so I save a few bucks and have it delivered to my house instead. I hope this helps those that are light on weight and looking to add fondant but need more than a few pounds!


This is awesome! Goldenbarrel is much cheaper than what I have been paying..... Thanks for sharing this!


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## VickyLynn

How is the fondant packaged? Is it convenient one pound slabs or larger?
Thanks.


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## Mike01876

The Golden Barrel fondant comes shipped in two layers of cardboard boxes, inside is a solid 50lb block of fondant they vacuum seal into a plastic bag. It is very well packaged, but quite heavy, so not necessarily convenient if you are looking for just a few pounds!

Our processing is quite simple. We take the inside box apart at the seams to expose the plastic bag (and protect the table top), positioning the block on a work table with the short end facing us. After opening the bag to expose the fondant, we cut slices that are roughly one inch deep (or deeper for light hives) and let it fall towards us landing on a piece of wax paper. I use a 22 inch machete which allows me to angle the knife so the fondant falls directly on the wax paper without having to move it by hand, but any longer knife would work. The key is that the fondant is solid, but very most, so almost no effort at all is required to cut from top to bottom. 

This results in roughly a 12"x12" chunk that is an inch deep, wrapped in wax paper. We just throw the pile of slices into a sealed plastic container that sits in our always cold and seldom dry New England basement, this prevents them from drying out before we need them. Anything we don't need to cut right away is re-wrapped in the original plastic and put back in the box. I had a block from last winter and it was just as moist as the day I first cut it, but I think the key is to keep it airtight, cool and dry. 

I know many of the local bee supply stores have fondant in smaller quantities, they only add on a buck or two per pound which is reasonable if I only had one hive. Perhaps you could split the 50lb block with your friends, club or even keep leftovers for the late winter hive checks? Good luck!


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## VickyLynn

Thank you, Mike. That information is very helpful.

I wonder whether fondant is preferable or equivalent to Laurie's sugar brick recipe. Do the bees like one over the other? With the sugar block recipe, one can add mega bee protein powder or electrolytes which might be an advantage. Any opinions?


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## kaizen

I've only used fondant(can't think of the sugar mixture that is gooey but never hardens) which I made myself when feeding pollen. otherwise I've used sugar bricks which are 50percent cheaper when made myself.


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## Spark

I make my own fondant but it can be a pain in the rear. I just bought a Cabelas 12 tray dehydrator on sale for $169.00 to mimick Lauri's recipe. I am doing this solely on the fact it looks much easier labor wise to cooking fondant. 

I have used Randy Olivers recipe (tweaked a bit) to make home made protein patties and found the bees like them better than commercially made ones. This is one reason I will continue with good old fashioned homemade cooked food bees seem to be just like humans in this dept.


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## NewbeeInNH

Tuesday looks like the best bet this week to do some work in the hives, forecast here to be around 60F. For the past couple weeks it's been too generally yuck to feel like going into the hives. Feeders are still on but I'm sure they haven't been touched, been too chilly. Tomorrow I'll make the sugar bricks (while no one is home because they don't like the smell of the vinegar), and Tuesday I'll remove all feeders, reduce supers if needed, and put sugar bricks in tops of hives. If I can get to the quilt boxes by then I'll add those, otherwise I'll add when I can, and I'll wrap in styrofoam sometime soon too. 

I'm wondering if the hives stored enough syrup to even make it until Tuesday. I'll peek in them and make sure they're still alive before I start preparing them for winter.

It's going to be a long, dark wait for them until spring. Hope they don't get depressed in there. I would.


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## kaizen

I did an oav at one yard and brought out the quilt boxes and sugar blocks. I put the sugar blocks in zip lock bags inside of the quilt boxes for now. I was going to just change them over but the feeders were still full. They hadn't taken anything in 2 weeks. The I realized I forgot my smoker. grrrrr. as it was cold and I couldn't smoke them down away from the feeder I didn't want to remove them and drench the bees so I waited. I'll probably bring a small hose I can siphon off some next time. 
yellow jackets all over the place. lots of dead bees on the bottom board and in the grass. I put on mouse excluders that I made with only a one bee width opening and taped up some areas that looked like the yj's were entering.
i'm going to take some drawn comb this week and put in my sugar recipe and cook it in the comb. then next week i'll replace the empty combs with these or follower boards to condense them. they are just about on their own for the winter. i'm not able to get them anywhere near where they should be despite my efforts.


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## VickyLynn

Kaisen and Newbee, I am doing just about what you are doing too. I have sugar bricks in there and they have been all over them. I have a mite counting board and I had 52 mites in a 24 hour drop two days ago, and 108 in a 48 hour drop that I counted this morning. I just got my Varrox vaporizer and gas mask this week and plan to give everyone a dose on either Tuesday if I have time (I am working at the polls), or Thursday. Wednesday looks like rain. Tomorrow I plan to make quilt boxes out of some shallows that someone gave me, although in the past I have just insulated above and added homosote underneath the cover.


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## NewbeeInNH

I like the quilt boxes because they can suck the moisture out of the shavings if they get thirsty.


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## kaizen

VickyLynn said:


> Kaisen and Newbee, I am doing just about what you are doing too. I have sugar bricks in there and they have been all over them. I have a mite counting board and I had 52 mites in a 24 hour drop two days ago, and 108 in a 48 hour drop that I counted this morning. I just got my Varrox vaporizer and gas mask this week and plan to give everyone a dose on either Tuesday if I have time (I am working at the polls), or Thursday. Wednesday looks like rain. Tomorrow I plan to make quilt boxes out of some shallows that someone gave me, although in the past I have just insulated above and added homosote underneath the cover.


I hate treating for mites. just a pain imo. you will realize a huge improvement over what you have seen. after a year I realized i'm just too lazy to count mites. now that I have more hives i'm too busy trying to build and keep up with them.


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## Bob J

Weather continue to cool. Daytime highs 53-69F with the nighttime lows 34-53F. Still no hard frost near the shore. Month rain (November) is 0.16" and YTD is 21.74 

Lost another hive this week again due to the robbing two weeks ago. Same pattern as before with a large number (thousands) of dead bees basically sealing off the main entrance to the hive inside the robbing screen. Cleaned them out and when I checked there were no bees left inside the hive. No signs of honey being robbed so it looks like they were successful keeping the robbers out, even if it meant using their bodies to do it.... Second hive is basically dead as the colony has now been reduced to a small hand full of bees with the queen.... Too small to worry about combining.... Plenty of honey so will distribute to any light hives.... 

Part of the problem seems to be that the hives chose to defend the main entrance inside the robber screen instead of the small upper opening in the robber screen.... Next year am thinking I need to use both a standard entrance reducer as well as the robber screen.... That way there are two layers of defense that the robbers will have to fight through... Hopefully that will prevent this from happening in the future....


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## kaizen

Bob J said:


> Part of the problem seems to be that the hives chose to defend the main entrance inside the robber screen instead of the small upper opening in the robber screen.... Next year am thinking I need to use both a standard entrance reducer as well as the robber screen.... That way there are two layers of defense that the robbers will have to fight through... Hopefully that will prevent this from happening in the future....


same here. after I oav'd the bees I stuck the robber screen back on as I didn't have my smoker and thought it might calm them down a little. the entrance was 2 bees wide and I watched a bee come out and a yellow jacket go in walk right by ten bees and right into the hive. :scratch: thinking I will also this week put out some yellow jacket traps at my outyards. I have them at home and have caught hundreds.


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## Bob J

kaizen said:


> same here. after I oav'd the bees I stuck the robber screen back on as I didn't have my smoker and thought it might calm them down a little. the entrance was 2 bees wide and I watched a bee come out and a yellow jacket go in walk right by ten bees and right into the hive. :scratch: thinking I will also this week put out some yellow jacket traps at my outyards. I have them at home and have caught hundreds.


Yellow jacket traps is a great idea.... Yellow jackets weren't nearly as much a problem as the robbing was but putting traps in all my yards will definitely help.....


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## Spark

Bob J

You seem to have many problems with robbing. You said you use gallon feeders what type are you using? I have been using the MP method of paint cans in the fall for a few years now and have little to no robbing. My nucs did experience some robbing using quart mason jars but nothing to decimate them.


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## adson

Spark, do you have a link to that Randy Oliver protein patty recipe ?


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## Bob J

Spark said:


> Bob J
> 
> You seem to have many problems with robbing. You said you use gallon feeders what type are you using? I have been using the MP method of paint cans in the fall for a few years now and have little to no robbing. My nucs did experience some robbing using quart mason jars but nothing to decimate them.


I'm also using the paint cans.... Unfortunately I don't think it was a key factor as two of the hives were decimated before I started feeding.... My thought is that it was mainly driven by the lack of nectar due to the drought driving nearby hives to desperation.... This has really been a learning experience for me..... Really thought the robber screens would do the job protecting the hives but didn't fully realize the dynamic if the robbers figured out how to use the top entrance in the screen.... The pile of dead bees shows that the hive was primarily defending the main entrance inside the screen and not the small upper entrance.... An entrance reducer inside the screen should make all the difference now that I think I understand the dynamic... Unfortunately too late for the hives that have been hit....:-(


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## Spark

Bob

Given how this year went I left the supers on into September to help the bees with feeding. I did not have any noticable robbing and I added the cans closer to October and all hives but 2 had their hive weight before the end of October. This may have helped since there wasn't an open sugar source to draw hungry neighbors over for a free lunch. 

When I first started I used hive top feeders in the fall big mistake. When I did use robber screens I only had the botton entrance open but reduced it and closed all other entrances with duct tape and I put Vicks vapor rub aroung the robber screen entrrance. This worked but it was a pain and I changed to paint cans. I am happy with the results and I think keeping the supers on longer because of the drought kept the smell from syrup down further reducing potential robbing from the Millenial bees .


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## Bob J

Spark said:


> Bob
> 
> Given how this year went I left the supers on into September to help the bees with feeding. I did not have any noticable robbing and I added the cans closer to October and all hives but 2 had their hive weight before the end of October. This may have helped since there wasn't an open sugar source to draw hungry neighbors over for a free lunch.
> 
> When I first started I used hive top feeders in the fall big mistake. When I did use robber screens I only had the botton entrance open but reduced it and closed all other entrances with duct tape and I put Vicks vapor rub aroung the robber screen entrrance. This worked but it was a pain and I changed to paint cans. I am happy with the results and I think keeping the supers on longer because of the drought kept the smell from syrup down further reducing potential robbing from the Millenial bees .


Paint cans definitely rock! Keeps the syrup clean, easy to transport and easy for the bees to access.... Tried several hive top/frame feeders with varied success but nothing was as easy to work with as the paint cans! 

I fed way too late this year... We usually get a decent fall flow and then all I have to do it a quick "top up" but this year we got nothing.... Unfortunately I kept waiting and hoping until it was literally the last possible opportunity to feed... Certainly a lesson learned for next year.....


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## Lauri

Spark said:


> I make my own fondant but it can be a pain in the rear. I just bought a Cabelas 12 tray dehydrator on sale for $169.00 to mimick Lauri's recipe. I am doing this solely on the fact it looks much easier labor wise to cooking fondant.
> 
> I have used Randy Olivers recipe (tweaked a bit) to make home made protein patties and found the bees like them better than commercially made ones. This is one reason I will continue with good old fashioned homemade cooked food bees seem to be just like humans in this dept.


You'll love that dehydrator.
I actually dry apples, fruit, vegies, etc along with the sugar blocks if I have extra room, and have found no transfer of flavor. 

Here's an experimental batch of lightly cooked apple sauce with nuts and seeds (Lightly sweetened with honey of course) I dried on a single shelf with all the other shelf full of sugar blocks. The dehydrator does use some electricity, so I like to have it full when in use.


























I can get 8-10 of these pans in one large dehydrator and do up 100#+ of sugar. (each pan holds 12.5# of sugar) That makes a lot of blocks fast. Ready in 2 days @ 130 degrees -4 days after letting them sit a day or two to 'finish' so they lift out hard and are easy to handle without being crumbly.


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## NewbeeInNH

Finally got into my hives today to put winter sugar blocks in them. For the first time in the 5 years I've been doing this, 2 of my hives absconded. One was a 3 year old Russian queen that in August had laid brood end to end in 3 or four frames, it was beautiful. No sign of any of the bees, no dead bees, and nothing in any of the frames. I had been feeding with a top quart jar on the hive. Apparently they sucked the last of that down and left without so much as a goodbye.

The other absconded hive was right next door. That hive I was also feeding of course, trying to build it up -- it had confounded me because only the 3rd medium up had honey stores, the 2 bottom mediums had been completely empty, this was in I think September. There were some dead bees on the bottom board, maybe 50, but everyone else was gone and all the frames were empty.

I now have four empty small hives set up out there that I'll leave until spring, in hopes that either a wayward colony decides to move in, or hopefully transfer my overwintered nucs into the larger hives next spring.

CROSSING FINGERS FOR A DANDELION SEASON NEXT SPRING.

This leaves me with 4 double nucs, 3 small hives new this summer, and 2 "production" hives that had overwintered. (I use the term "production" lightly because many of us around here did not get honey this year)

So sugar bricks are in all hives, which I will check regularly because of the dearth this summer, and stryofoam in the lids. I still have to put the quilt boxes on, and wrap the hives. Maybe next weekend. Supposed to be mild this week, temps in the 50s.

Oh, and I saw orange pollen coming in today. I was surprised. I was also surprised when I passed a flowering goldenrod in the yard. Wow. Mid November? It was just one sprig that was flowering, didn't see any others, but they may be around.


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## clyderoad

NewbeeInNH said:


> Finally got into my hives today to put winter sugar blocks in them. For the first time in the 5 years I've been doing this, 2 of my hives absconded. One was a 3 year old Russian queen that in August had laid brood end to end in 3 or four frames, it was beautiful. No sign of any of the bees, no dead bees, and nothing in any of the frames. I had been feeding with a top quart jar on the hive. Apparently they sucked the last of that down and left without so much as a goodbye.
> 
> The other absconded hive was right next door. That hive I was also feeding of course, trying to build it up -- it had confounded me because only the 3rd medium up had honey stores, the 2 bottom mediums had been completely empty, this was in I think September. There were some dead bees on the bottom board, maybe 50, but everyone else was gone and all the frames were empty.


when was the last time you inspected them? 
when do you suppose this happened?


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## kaizen

I put two yards to bed for the winter. I have been boiling down leftover 2-1 so I can pour them into empty frames. I already had about 100 pounds of sugar blocks at those yards but still had my top feeders on hoping and praying. Out of 8 hives with them on none were taking anything despite the 50's that we have had. So I moved to plan B for winter feed. 
My plan B is candy frames, follower boards (3/4 Advantech glued to 2" insulation) as recommended by enjambres. I really didn't want to put the hives in nucs so in bottom boxes that had empty frames I took those out and put in follower boards. in the 2nd deep box if there were empty frames I either repeated the followers or put in all candy frames. Then I topped them off with sugar patties and quilt boxes.
Funny newbee said he saw some pollen as I did to on one bee. I also saw some frames that I swear had nectar in them but not capped. looked like the bees were drawing comb and processing the nectar. I dyed my 2-1 and this had no color. Very very strange.
I had some anxiety going to the yards afraid I would also have some absconding or dead outs. I have two nucs that I also winter prepped but not even checking on those. I had started ten nucs with queens this year and ended up with only 3 double deep hives and 2 nucs left from it. all others absconded and one swarmed. For the amount of work and money I put into all of my hives this year I really wanted to come out with 20 or more hives. i'll really be surprised if I have 4 at the end of this winter.....which was where I was last year.


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## NewbeeInNH

clyderoad said:


> when was the last time you inspected them?
> when do you suppose this happened?


From the notes on this thread (thankfully) it was September 17th when I went through my hives, thinking I would reduce all their sizes to 4 mediums and spread the extra honey frames around or even extract. But got the shocker that they had little to no honey stored. I had seen the bees all over the goldenrod and asters, so it was surprising. And I had let everything grow on my property so that there were lots of goldenrod and asters for them. But then I learned that nectar is something like 75% water, so apparently the blooms were not putting forth nectar, but were supplying pollen to the hives.

So then I started feeding all the hives and went through about 5 or 6 feedings, and then stopped because the weather got too cold for them to process the syrup. I made a bunch of sugar bricks and then today I had the chance to put those bricks in the hives. Today it was fairly pleasant, and before I opened any hives I looked at the entrances. The two hives that had absconded did not have any bees flying at the entrances, while the others did. At that point I figured something had gone wrong with those two hives. But I really never expected to find they had absconded with not even dead bees left behind (on one anyway). 

Something made them desperate to take the risk to leave even as winter was approaching. I'm thinking they knew their food stores were inadequate and blamed their locale (and this would have been about the time that the winter bees hatched). Wherever they went, they took whatever they stored from my feedings. I'm pretty sure colonies that abscond in late October (which is probably when it was) will not make it thru the winter. But, maybe they lucked out in a warm attic somewhere.


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## NewbeeInNH

Just a note, I found this regarding autumn absconding:

http://honeybeesuite.com/why-do-honey-bees-abscond-in-the-fall/

"By the time a beekeeper discovers an empty hive there is usually nothing left but wax comb. Comb left clean and neat usually indicates the bees left due to a nectar dearth and impending starvation."

That's me. My poor bees probably were distressed before September 17th when I noticed they had no honey, and even tho I started feeding, it was probably too late, the absconding process had already started.

"Much like swarming, absconding is a process. Preparations are made well in advance of “moving day.” Usually the queen ceases to lay eggs and slims down in preparation for flying, foraging stops, scouts begin searching for a new home, and honey stores are used up."

Poor things. And poor me.


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## Bob J

Daytime highs 48-60F with the nighttime lows 35-44F. Still no hard frost near the shore. Month rain (November) is unchanged at 0.16" and YTD is 21.74 

Pulled the wets that I had put on the lightest hives last week, sprayed the frames with BTa and set out to dry.... Still seeing some signs of robbers checking out hives in Needham so am still holding off on the winter shims until the weather turns colder.... Probably in a couple of weeks.... My concern is that the winter shims all have an upper entrance so with the chance of robbing on warmer days don't really want to give them another entrance they might have to defend... My son bought a branding iron and did a nice job of branding "Seaside Apiaries" on all the stored frames... Had several supers pulled from the dead hives that we were thinking about extracting but decided to redistribute to several of the lighter hives.... Right now they need it more than I do....


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## Lauri

Potatoes and grass have resprounted and are growing like it is spring. Late planted carrots, rutabagas and beets also are growing like crazy. 
I don't like it. Bees (Carniolan Hybrids) luckily are probably broodless or close to it by now. With no brood to feed they are content to remain inactive for the most part. But if temps don't start cooling off, that won't last for long. 

























If they start looking for protein in December, I'll know they are actively rearing brood again. Like the winter of 2014-2015 here.
This is dry Bee Pro on Christmas day 2014. Early- Mid February is usually when this occurs.

















Of course when brood rearing starts for bees, brood rearing also starts for mites. I like my _usual_ cool winter and extended broodless period.


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## Spark

Lauri said:


> You'll love that dehydrator.
> I actually dry apples, fruit, vegies, etc along with the sugar blocks if I have extra room, and have found no transfer of flavor.
> 
> Here's an experimental batch of lightly cooked apple sauce with nuts and seeds (Lightly sweetened with honey of course) I dried on a single shelf with all the other shelf full of sugar blocks. The dehydrator does use some electricity, so I like to have it full when in use.
> 
> View attachment 28906
> 
> 
> View attachment 28907
> 
> 
> View attachment 28903
> 
> 
> 
> I can get 8-10 of these pans in one large dehydrator and do up 100#+ of sugar. (each pan holds 12.5# of sugar) That makes a lot of blocks fast. Ready in 2 days @ 130 degrees -4 days after letting them sit a day or two to 'finish' so they lift out hard and are easy to handle without being crumbly.
> 
> View attachment 28904
> 
> 
> View attachment 28905


Thanks Lauri I was curious about the transfer of smells so you have answered what I was thinking.


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## Bob J

Daytime highs 50-67F with the nighttime lows 32-49F. Last night was the first below freezing and we had a dusting of snow this morning. Month rain (November) is 1.00" and YTD is 22.58".

Looks like the warm November is finally turning.... With the colder air coming in will be winterizing the hives next weekend after Thanksgiving.... Christmas orders are starting to come in for honey and soap so no problem staying busy.... With the apiary work winding down I've been thinking about the lessons learned from this fall and will be doing a few things different next year....

I got suckered by the drought and kept waiting way too long hoping for a flow before I started feeding. The result of this is a number of my hives have clusters smaller than usual going into winter and are also on the light side of where I would like them. Next year will start the feeding the first week in September and if the girls score a flow that will just be a bonus. With most of my colonies Carni mutts this will hopefully support brooding up so I can ensure a couple of solid brood cycles before the weather turns cold. This year most of my queens either shut down or severely cut back brooding due to the lack of flow.... I should have realized this and picked up the feeding earlier to keep them brooding....

When I did feed I used my usual 2:1 recipe with HbH.... I'm convinced this contributed to the robbing frenzies that ended up killing a number of my hives.... Next year will not use HbH in my fall feed... 

Robber screens turned out to be a double edged sword.... They did their job with the less intensive robbing but this year robbing went to a whole new level..... With the high intensity a number of the robbers found the top entrance of the robbing screen and the hives did not focus their defense there but ended up trying to defend the main entrance of the hive inside the screen... With the main entrance wide open the robbers were able to effectively bypass many of the defenders. Next year am thinking to use a standard entrance reducer inside the screen to support a better defense in case the robbers breach the screen... Given what happened this year am also thinking that the simple entrance reducer set at the smallest opening during robbing season might just be as effective as the robber screen. Something to think about before the season starts next year....

This year I ended up treating OAV a lot more than I have done in previous years.... Part of this I think is associated with my use of the JB700 instead of my traditional Varrocleaner iron. While the JB700 is quicker and easier am thinking the blower does not seem to distribute the vapor as effectively.... Next year am strongly considering using Apivar for my main treatment and OAV for "knock down" and late season (fall) treatments. As for the JB700 will need to experiment with different nozzle configurations to see if I can get something that pushes the vapor more vertically into the hive instead of blowing it horizontally. Something to play with over the long winter months....

The broodminders have been a real godsend in monitoring the hives but I have learned to be more careful about monitoring the battery life.... Most have been fine but several have drained batteries quickly... The good news is that the broodminder team has been very responsive and has drop shipped replacements to me as soon as I started to see a problem... Discussions with them indicated a defective component which resulted in the battery life problem... Currently all my hive monitors are performing well but will need to keep an eye on them just in case.... 

My best wishes to each of you for a safe and bountiful Thanksgiving!

Bob


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## kaizen

Thanks for your thread and data Bob. Interesting to see what's happening outside the local beekeeping area but inside an hours drive. I'm a computer guy so I love the techie idea of hive minders but now not sure if i'd invest in them. Only my second year but it has been a rough year. got 2 inches of snow on the top covers last night.


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## Bob J

I agree 100% Terrence..... One of the nice things about a regional thread is to get some insight into what is going on locally beyond what we are seeing in our apiaries.... Broodminders are a significant investment but now I am seriously addicted.... Since all my apiaries are outyards, the hourly datalog capability gives me some insight into what happened when I was not around... I've seen swarms, robbing, brooding turn on and off, flows kicking in and out with a resolution that the geek in me finds amazing.... Certainly not for everyone but for me it's seriously cool.....;- )


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## Scitfrostbite

I did last OAV for the year today. This was my last planned treatment. There were a lot of dead mites in the bottom boards. This year I also did one treatment 3-4 weeks ago after I heard of some area hives lost to mites in October (was worried mine might be next) and assume the dead bugs were from then.

The bees were right where they should be at this time of year-- huddled in bottom deeps.

Hive gross weights still look good (100 to about 150lbs), as one might imagine, they've all lost 5lbs or so in the last month. Insurance sugar bricks go on this week to be safe.


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## Scitfrostbite

I did last OAV for the year today. This was my last planned treatment. There were a lot of dead mites in the bottom boards. This year I also did one treatment 3-4 weeks ago after I heard of some area hives lost to mites in October (was worried mine might be next) and assume the dead bugs were from then.

The bees were right where they should be at this time of year-- huddled in bottom deeps.

Hive gross weights still look good (100 to about 150lbs), as one might imagine they've all lost 5lbs or so in the last month. Insurance sugar bricks go on this week to be safe.


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## Steve_G

Checked both of my hives on Saturday, both hives strong.
Removed the top feeders (both dry), since late September, I have fed both hives 3 gal of 2:1 Syrup each.
Placed Mann Lake Winter Covers (also doubles as a candy board) on both hives w/ 5 lbs each of sugar candy each.
Placed Insulation on both hives.
Hopefully all goes well through the winter, will hopefully be able to check in Feb.


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## Bob J

Daytime highs 39-48F with the nighttime lows 32-41F. Month rain (November) is 1.10" and YTD is 22.68"

Set up all with winter shims (includes homasote and foam board insulation) and mouse guards but have not wrapped yet. Will probably do that this upcoming weekend. Weymouth hive had a number of dead hive beetles on the bottom board insert. Lost the other hive in that yard to the buggers last year but this hive had been relatively beetle free but it looks like that has changed. Was impressed with the way the late season nucs had built up with the queens I got from Sam Comfort. Nucs (2D 4 frame) are jammed with bees. Surprisingly strong. Will have to keep an eye on them to make sure they don't eat through their stores if we get any warm spells. Added fondant just as an insurance policy. Will be interesting to see how these girls perform next year.


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## camero7

I'd like to hear about those queens. Considered them a while back but heard some bad reports.


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## Scitfrostbite

Freaky 56 degrees, sunny and windy in MetroWest right now. All four hives flying today. Gives some comfort to know they are still alive... I know, I know, much worse conditions to come.

All action out of lower entrances. No hives working sugar bricks yet which is a good sign.


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## AAIndigo

Bob J said:


> Daytime highs 50-67F with the nighttime lows 32-49F. Last night was the first below freezing and we had a dusting of snow this morning. Month rain (November) is 1.00" and YTD is 22.58".
> 
> Looks like the warm November is finally turning.... With the colder air coming in will be winterizing the hives next weekend after Thanksgiving.... Christmas orders are starting to come in for honey and soap so no problem staying busy.... With the apiary work winding down I've been thinking about the lessons learned from this fall and will be doing a few things different next year....
> 
> I got suckered by the drought and kept waiting way too long hoping for a flow before I started feeding. The result of this is a number of my hives have clusters smaller than usual going into winter and are also on the light side of where I would like them. Next year will start the feeding the first week in September and if the girls score a flow that will just be a bonus. With most of my colonies Carni mutts this will hopefully support brooding up so I can ensure a couple of solid brood cycles before the weather turns cold. This year most of my queens either shut down or severely cut back brooding due to the lack of flow.... I should have realized this and picked up the feeding earlier to keep them brooding....
> 
> When I did feed I used my usual 2:1 recipe with HbH.... I'm convinced this contributed to the robbing frenzies that ended up killing a number of my hives.... Next year will not use HbH in my fall feed...
> 
> Robber screens turned out to be a double edged sword.... They did their job with the less intensive robbing but this year robbing went to a whole new level..... With the high intensity a number of the robbers found the top entrance of the robbing screen and the hives did not focus their defense there but ended up trying to defend the main entrance of the hive inside the screen... With the main entrance wide open the robbers were able to effectively bypass many of the defenders. Next year am thinking to use a standard entrance reducer inside the screen to support a better defense in case the robbers breach the screen... Given what happened this year am also thinking that the simple entrance reducer set at the smallest opening during robbing season might just be as effective as the robber screen. Something to think about before the season starts next year....
> 
> This year I ended up treating OAV a lot more than I have done in previous years.... Part of this I think is associated with my use of the JB700 instead of my traditional Varrocleaner iron. While the JB700 is quicker and easier am thinking the blower does not seem to distribute the vapor as effectively.... Next year am strongly considering using Apivar for my main treatment and OAV for "knock down" and late season (fall) treatments. As for the JB700 will need to experiment with different nozzle configurations to see if I can get something that pushes the vapor more vertically into the hive instead of blowing it horizontally. Something to play with over the long winter months....
> 
> The broodminders have been a real godsend in monitoring the hives but I have learned to be more careful about monitoring the battery life.... Most have been fine but several have drained batteries quickly... The good news is that the broodminder team has been very responsive and has drop shipped replacements to me as soon as I started to see a problem... Discussions with them indicated a defective component which resulted in the battery life problem... Currently all my hive monitors are performing well but will need to keep an eye on them just in case....
> 
> My best wishes to each of you for a safe and bountiful Thanksgiving!
> 
> Bob


Well Bob your not the only one who got caught with his pants done with the drought. I started feeding start of September and fed through Oct. Full robber screens on all but it still didnt seem to matter. My bees just didn't build up as expected.


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## NewbeeInNH

Mine didn't either. It's going to be a brutal fatality count this year. 2 of my hives absconded (first time that's EVER happened in my beeyard) (one of which was a 3 yr. old Russian queen) and I see that one nuc didn't make it and there is a lack of bees flying around one of my hives. Fortunately 3 nucs look good (bees flying today) and I hope 3 small hives are doing well (2 are new Russian queens from July) and then there's one big hive that had been booming this summer but seems a little light on bees flying in and out so we'll see. I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping for the best at this point. It was a terrible summer for them, I didn't realize their hives were empty of stores until August, and I fed as much as I could but you can't fill a whole hive. I put large sugar bricks in there for the winter so we'll see.


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## Bob J

Interesting December where I am... Very little snow with some days with highs in the low 60's (!) and others in the single digits... Significantly warmer than normal with the exception of the days we were visited by the polar vortex... All hives seem ok so far with the girls out and about on the warmer days... Will be interesting to see if the warm trend continues for January....


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## kaizen

I have ice and snow on them. sun isn't melting this much so I have to keep the entrance cleared on the ones I did not give a top entrance to. ones with a top entrance are using them exclusively. actually tarped and put some moving blankets on some small hives/nucs at my house as a windbreak before all the snow fell. lost a couple small nucs so far. Opened their entrances except for mousegaurds in case the others want to rob them out.


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## Bob J

Warmer than usual weather continues to be the case with nighttime lows ranging from 26 to 40F and daytime highs from 40 to 60F. 2016 closed out with 25.97" of rainfall which is well below the 43.76" 10 year average. Still no significant snow in my area. 

Made the rounds to the yards yesterday and added fondant to hives that had eaten through the earlier batch. Nucs remain strong and production hives remain weaker than I would have liked to see but at this point it is what it is... Really glad to see 2016 in the rear view mirror.... All in all I lost 8 production hives this fall so have put 5 overwintered Nucs on order with a local supplier. Between those, the Nucs I made late last year and any surviving hives I should be able to build the apiaries up to decent (hopefully) production this spring.

Next summer will plan on doubling the number of Nucs I build so hopefully this will be the last year I need to buy them....


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## DerTiefster

NewbeeInNH said:


> ...It was a terrible summer for them, I didn't realize their hives were empty of stores until August, and I fed as much as I could but you can't fill a whole hive....


This is a thing which confuses me. At start of season, some feed packages by pouring syrup into empty drawn comb and placing the filled frame(s) into a hive with the bees. What seems odd to me is that the bees will pretty much do just that: put syrup into comb, although with some enzymes and such stuff. Is there not a similar thing that can be done with drawn comb, pouring syrup into it and putting it back into the hive? Using 90F syrup provides enough heat not to pull the temperature of the hive down, although it might result in water vapor loading of the hive and condensation in places not to be desired.

But if your colony is severely light in stores, why not do this?

Michael (nearing end of first "solo" year of beekeeping, knowing not a lot and certain of even less)

I thought I made a mistake once....but I was wrong.


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## Michael Palmer

NewbeeInNH said:


> It was a terrible summer for them, I didn't realize their hives were empty of stores until August, and I fed as much as I could but you can't fill a whole hive.


Really? Why not? You can give a colony 5 gallons at a time and it's gone in a week. Of course that has to be in September before the temperatures drop. Easy enough to do.


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## NewbeeInNH

> Really? Why not? You can give a colony 5 gallons at a time and it's gone in a week. Of course that has to be in September before the temperatures drop. Easy enough to do.


Well, I've never had to feed the bees like this before. I don't usually take much, if any, honey. So, I don't have 5 gallon feeders, and I was using a couple hive top feeders (probably 2 gal.) and running relays with quart feeders. And I had a couple open feeders across the way. So I guess that wasn't enough, altho I tried to keep up with them.

The whole thing was just a big shock to me. They were all over the goldenrod, asters, thistle, whatever was out there. I expected to see plenty of stores in their hives. But everyone I have talked with in this area had the same problem. The plants produced pollen but very little nectar. I wasn't prepared to have to feed them pretty much 100% of their winter stores. I've never had to do that before, or even close. I really don't want to go thru that again.


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## Michael Palmer

NewbeeInNH said:


> The whole thing was just a big shock to me. They were all over the goldenrod, asters, thistle, whatever was out there. I expected to see plenty of stores in their hives. But everyone I have talked with in this area had the same problem. The plants produced pollen but very little nectar. I wasn't prepared to have to feed them pretty much 100% of their winter stores. I've never had to do that before, or even close. I really don't want to go thru that again.


Believe me, I understand. We had the same weather...maybe not quite so dry as we made a nice crop. But this was the first time I can remember when I never smelled goldenrod. At least we caught it in time and fed as needed. The bees responded well. It's just something you do automatically. Check stores about early to mid-September and feed accordingly. All at once if possible.


----------



## kaizen

Michael Palmer said:


> Really? Why not? You can give a colony 5 gallons at a time and it's gone in a week. Of course that has to be in September before the temperatures drop. Easy enough to do.


I started feeding in august with 2 gallon hive top feeders. only took 1 gallon of 2-1 a week. So i'm guessing the difference is the population due to beekeeper ability. A strange thing we did see down here was that most of the hive was out foraging on nothing while the feeders were on. So really looked like they were on it with nectar in frames then they ate it through aug-sept when there was nothing out there. The year before I experienced what you are describing. Couldn't keep syrup on fast enough. just a really strange year.


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## Michael Palmer

NewbeeInNH said:


> and I was using a couple hive top feeders (probably 2 gal.) and running relays with quart feeders. And I had a couple open feeders across the way. So I guess that wasn't enough, altho I tried to keep up with them.





kaizen said:


> I started feeding in august with 2 gallon hive top feeders. only took 1 gallon of 2-1 a week.


I'm guessing the difference is using hive top feeders. They don't always work so well. And quarts are a waste of time because they're too small, and the bees use the syrup as quickly as you feed it.

With gallon cans on shims on the top bars, surrounded by an empty body, the feeders are in contact with the cluster. The bees warm the syrup and take it quickly. You can feed up to 5 gallons at once and all but weak colonies will take down that much in a week.


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## kaizen

Michael Palmer said:


> I'm guessing the difference is using hive top feeders. They don't always work so well. And quarts are a waste of time because they're too small, and the bees use the syrup as quickly as you feed it.
> 
> With gallon cans on shims on the top bars, surrounded by an empty body, the feeders are in contact with the cluster. The bees warm the syrup and take it quickly. You can feed up to 5 gallons at once and all but weak colonies will take down that much in a week.


that makes a lot of sense. 5 times the feeding surface area of mine. Hopefully this year it won't be needed. Winter around here so far is more normal so hoping the warm/dry year of 2016 is a distant memory.


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## NewbeeInNH

Oh! You meant 5 one-gallon cans, and not one 5-gallon. I was thinking - how would you hoist 5 gallons of syrup on top of the hive? And how many mediums would it take to surround that?

I have to figure out where to put the holes and how that doesn't leak out all over the place. I agree, the quarts are ridiculous (except for a new package) but they're better than nothing, and if you fill them daily, at least they're better than nothing. And the hive top feeders are tough - always with drowned bees and they get stuck in the syrup. Refiling is complicated.

About winter being more normal moisture-wise, heh. That's an understatement. Where's the drought when you need it? My long driveway has been one sheet of ice for weeks. Keeps freezing rain.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Oh! You meant 5 one-gallon cans, and not one 5-gallon. I was thinking - how would you hoist 5 gallons of syrup on top of the hive? And how many mediums would it take to surround that?
> 
> I have to figure out where to put the holes and how that doesn't leak out all over the place. I agree, the quarts are ridiculous (except for a new package) but they're better than nothing, and if you fill them daily, at least they're better than nothing. And the hive top feeders are tough - always with drowned bees and they get stuck in the syrup. Refiling is complicated.
> 
> About winter being more normal moisture-wise, heh. That's an understatement. Where's the drought when you need it? My long driveway has been one sheet of ice for weeks. Keeps freezing rain.


One gallon paint cans really rock! Neat clean application. No drowned bees. Syrup stays clean.

As you mention the holes really need to be tiny to avoid leakage... Nothing worse than a leaking can when you are feeding in a dearth which also coincidentally is robbing season... Ask me how I know....;- )


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## NewbeeInNH

So what do you puncture the can with to make such small holes? Would a screwdriver do?


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> So what do you puncture the can with to make such small holes? Would a screwdriver do?


Way too big.... I use a 4p nail... 5 or 6 holes near the center of the can lid is plenty.... When you invert you will get a bit of initial leakage but it quickly stops.... If there is any question you can fill the can with water and test the hole size... Make sure the lids are on tight and seal well... I use a rubber mallet....
Also be sure to get the cans that are epoxy lined... The unlined ones rust pretty badly...


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## camero7

I use a 1/16th inch drill. Works great I drill from the inside. The little lip helps the bees get the syrup out of the hole.


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## camero7

How are fall losses? I've already lost about 35% so far. Several of my customers have 100% losses. Lots of reports on Bee-L of major losses. My package supplier is reporting that many in Western Mass are experiencing big losses.


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## scituatema

All I have is still alive. 60+ colonies.


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## NewbeeInNH

I've lost a few already - 2 absconds, one or 2 nucs, and I have 2 hives that were booming mid-summer that don't look very active. I figure if I come thru with any alive, I'll be happy. I'm really counting on my 3 nucs and the 2 Russian queens I bought in July that started new splits.

What does come thru winter I will probably try to multiply in the spring. Hoping for a dandelion season, which last year didn't happen due to cold and rain. And then after that stressed by hot and dry.


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## Mike01876

Cam, we started with 50 +/- and are down about 20%, all without question self inflicted. I confess that I spent too much time playing with the JB700 and the three cycle OAV treatments in two of our locations. Mite loads were too high, the signs are all there. The good news is that yards where we used just Apiguard (or an Apivar strip for our NUCs) are all fine, not a single loss so far from what we decided to winter over. This is of course subject to change, it is only the first week of January. .

I wanted to take the JB700 out that warm day last week but it doesn't power up right, both lights go on immediately without the pan heating and the little black box on the side just vibrates and makes a strange buzzing sound... frustrating. As an engineer I like to play with new things and don't mind being on the cutting edge, but next year I will probably just stick with what I know works for us and others locally.

I have heard of others locally with greater losses, the package supplier out of Uxbridge made a similar comment to me back in November, so I think there will be much higher demand for bees this year.


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## Michael Palmer

camero7 said:


> How are fall losses? I've already lost about 35% so far. Several of my customers have 100% losses. Lots of reports on Bee-L of major losses. My package supplier is reporting that many in Western Mass are experiencing big losses.


What's up with that? We've hardly had a winter yet. Drought causing reduced brood rearing that got eaten up by varroa?


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## DPBsbees

Michael Palmer said:


> What's up with that? We've hardly had a winter yet. Drought causing reduced brood rearing that got eaten up by varroa?


I'm liking that thought Michael. Tough late summer and fall drought sounds like a smoking gun to me. I'm a nervous Nelly right now.


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## Adam Foster Collins

Michael Palmer said:


> ...Drought causing reduced brood rearing that got eaten up by varroa?


Bang-on Mike. It's going to be a big year for people who have bees to sell in the spring...


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## Bob J

Cam, I'm down 6 out of 16 hives so far..... 2 absconded and the other 4 were decimated by robbing.... Mike is dead on for the robbing.... Drought caused the populations to be down and the mites and robbers took advantage of it.... Several hives were treated almost continuously with OAV (weekly) and had significant mite drops but they just kept coming.... OAV does a good knock down but was simply not effective in August when I really needed to hammer them.... Next year will probably go half of my colonies with Apivar and the other half with the shop towel OA/Gly method detailed by Randy Oliver in the Jan ABJ.


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## Michael Palmer

Yeah, I've seen it before. 2011. So dry the ground cracked in my mating yard. Enough bees in the mating nucs to take down their winter feed in Sept/Oct. Weak in November. 99% of mating nucs dead in spring. Overwintered 4x4 nucs saved the day as I was able to restock all the mating nucs and get things going again.

It happens.


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## camero7

Michael Palmer said:


> What's up with that? We've hardly had a winter yet. Drought causing reduced brood rearing that got eaten up by varroa?


that's my thought. I spent way too much time playing with the JB700 and not really tending to business. I don't believe the JB put out enough vapor to be effective. I'm hopeful that the shop towel glycerine/oxalic will work better. I'm also switching to OA in the spring and 'traz in the fall. Since i leave the goldenrod [if we have some next year] on for winter feed, it shouldn't be a problem and I have had good success with it. I'll use the JB on nucs but large hives will be treated with other methods. Also didn't start feeding early enough - losses are all beekeeper error IMO


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## wildbranch2007

camero7 said:


> that's my thought. I spent way too much time playing with the JB700 and not really tending to business. I don't believe the JB put out enough vapor to be effective.


After cleaning the gun, I think entirely to much of the acid, recrystallizes in the gun. Did adding/replacing the part they sent you the part with two holes in it that should stop the acid from going into the back of the gun help any? I didn't get mine in until after we used it. I also think the heater turning off doesn't help with timing the amount per hive. We got mite drops onto sticky boards but not as much as I would have expected, and never got back due to a couple of big snow storms.


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## camero7

> Did adding/replacing the part they sent you the part with two holes in it that should stop the acid from going into the back of the gun help any?


 seems to have



> I also think the heater turning off doesn't help with timing the amount per hive.


 I'm going to move the thermostat to the side like others have done. That might help... I agree, turning off the heater is a drag. I'm only going to use this on nucs from now on.


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## Hope Bees

Michael Palmer said:


> With gallon cans on shims on the top bars, surrounded by an empty body, the feeders are in contact with the cluster. The bees warm the syrup and take it quickly. You can feed up to 5 gallons at once and all but weak colonies will take down that much in a week.


Can anyone explain the refilling process of one gallon paint cans? I've searched the forum and found reference to a screen and plug but I was hoping for a picture (I'm more a visual learner) 
It would help to see how it's installed.


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## camero7

Just pop the lid, pour in the syrup and put the lid back on [tight]


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## Hope Bees

OK, thanks. I guess I'm just over thinking things or miss understood what I read.


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## goldenmeadowhoney

Mr Palmer we have maple pollen coming in and early Titi starting to open up down in southeastern GA, this is a typical frame of brood in the photo, most colonies are averaging 4 frames brood.
Mike there is still time, if you are not snowed in to haul all your nucs down here we can split them up real good, you go home with double the number and I can sell off several hundred extra nucs by the first week in May.
Can I send a truck up?? Haha!!

Andy Reseska
Boston Honey Company Inc
Holliston MA

ATTACH=CONFIG]29885[/ATTACH]


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## Michael Palmer

goldenmeadowhoney said:


> Can I send a truck up?? Haha!!
> 
> Andy Reseska
> Boston Honey Company Inc
> Holliston MA


In your dreams


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## AAIndigo

I'm going to be bringing in some Ferguson Buckfast Queens this June. Queens sell for 40.00 The customs charge is around 100 and then there is shipping on top of that. The customs charge is for the package so we can buy 1 or 100 and the fee will still be 100.

I'm looking to purchase 5 or 6.

Does anyone want in on this? Group Purchase?

I'm in Franklin Ma. I can accept the order and Divi out from Franklin. We can discuss the payment plan here or on a group chat.

Thoughts? Input? Should we just do a group purchase from Michael Palmer? I'll make the run

Archie


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## Lauri

Every year a few folks talk about buying Ferguson's queens and I wait to hear some feedback. I never seem to hear anything about them. And it's been several years. 

I'd put my money on Michael Palmers queens if you're looking for that kind of lineage.


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## AAIndigo

Lauri said:


> Every year a few folks talk about buying Ferguson's queens and I wait to hear some feedback. I never seem to hear anything about them. And it's been several years.
> 
> I'd put my money on Michael Palmers queens if you're looking for that kind of lineage.


Well I can attest to this. I inherited a apiary with 2 green dot MP Queens that I grafted off of last year. They are overwintering nicely. Very gentle Bees.

Thats why I threw it out their.


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## Bob J

+1 on Michael's genetics.... Mine have been productive, gentle and overwinter well....


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## Bob J

Last week nighttime lows ranging from 15 to 41F and daytime highs from 24 to 48F. Rainfall for the month (January) is 0.9" and snowfall last week was 8". 

Good to see the occasional warmer days giving the girls a chance to get out....;- )


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## Spark

Michael Palmer said:


> In your dreams


MP

I have had one of Andy's Danish Buckfast nucs for a few years now and i'm using your 2 deep and 1 medium box setup for it. Its my best hive you may want to send a truck down instead


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## Michael Palmer

Spark said:


> MP you may want to send a truck down instead


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## kaizen

Hit 50 up here so I went out to add sugar and do an oav. Even though a couple were not flying they all looked decent. Not much of the additional feed I added at thanksgiving were eaten. As I give them top entrances I took off the mouse gaurds and scooped out the dead before doing the oav.


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## Scitfrostbite

60 degrees in Metrowest right now, took a walk back to the hives, pleasantly surprised by level of activity in hives. Zero degrees four days ago on Monday night.


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## VickyLynn

Yesterday, all seven of my hives were out flying. It got up to 45 degrees, but in the morning sun, it was warmer. Today, it is 49, but raining. So everyone is inside playing scrabble and munching on the sugar bricks.


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## larrypeterson

Ok Lairi and Michael,

For 2 days now my mind has been trying to figure out what the secrete is about Michael's bees and the Canadian Buckfast connection. Please tolerate this very short "off subject" bit for just a moment. Last year I tried to order queens from Michael Palmer but I was too late and he was sold out. I have talked to Mary Fergason just recently about purchasing queens this next spring. Michael declined to discuss "buckfast with the folks in Great Britten" and so I assumed he wasn't a fan of Brother Adams bees. I know this is not exactly the proper thread to bring this up but I am going into a mild psychosis. The cost is not really a big issue with me, just need some clarification from the "bee shrinks."

Thank you for tolerating me, still. LP


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## Michael Palmer

Actually, I am a fan of Brother Adam's bees. Or, a fan of Roy Weaver's Buckfast bees, as I was never able to get any of the original stock. Discussing "Buckfast" with the folks in the UK is opening a can of worms. They have a bee, Amm, that some think is the perfect bee for their climate, and Adams bee has polluted their stock. Others think Buckfast is an improvement. I don't keep bees in the UK and so I can't add anything to the debate. I certainly wouldn't be so presumptuous as to tell them what to do. 

The "Buckfast" stock that Roy had in the 90s was very resistant to Acarapis. In the height of the infestation, my yellow bees died and my dark Buckfast bees survived. That and a hygienic strain of Carniolan was the beginning of my breeding program.

As far as any connection to the Canadian Buckfast program, I can't see any. I bought some cells raised from a Ferguson breeder, and I wintered the daughters in nucs. They were okay, but nothing of note. Certainly nothing on which to build a breeding program. 

No secrets here. After years of selecting breeding stock from top performers, I have bees that are pretty good. Nothing anyone couldn't do, it just takes time.


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## larrypeterson

Thanx, LP


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## NewbeeInNH

We certainly have been having a January thaw. The forecast is showing rain, not snow. Of course, tonight's it's back to 9F so it's not like the winter is over (wishful thinking).

Was able to get into the hives today and saw that most of the sugar bricks are still in good shape, so don't need replacing. One nuc had a MOUSE looking at me. I had to replace the mouseguard on that one, after I shooed it out of there. Grr. We'll see if it survives. Mice can't get thru 1/2" hardware cloth, right? I didn't have the right sized mouseguards for the nuc boxes, first year wintering with them. Have to fine tune the nuc equipment.

Nuc pillows also were wet, so I replaced those with new dry ones. (Need a better ventilation system on the nucs - the full sized hives don't have this problem)

They should be set for the next cold spell now.


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## Bob J

Last week nighttime lows ranging from 10 to 45F and daytime highs from 21 to 62F. 3 days above 50F. Rainfall for the month (January) is 1.28" and there was no snowfall last week.


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## kaizen

NewbeeInNH said:


> Nuc pillows also were wet, so I replaced those with new dry ones. (Need a better ventilation system on the nucs - the full sized hives don't have this problem)
> 
> They should be set for the next cold spell now.


I actually made quilt boxes for my nucs. just like normal ones but smaller. no moisture.


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## kaizen

Bob J said:


> Last week nighttime lows ranging from 10 to 45F and daytime highs from 21 to 62F. 3 days above 50F. Rainfall for the month (January) is 1.28" and there was no snowfall last week.


Bob have you been out to your yards to get hiveminder data? interested to see the weight changes over the course of the winter


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## Cloverdale

Michael Palmer said:


> Actually, I am a fan of Brother Adam's bees. Or, a fan of Roy Weaver's Buckfast bees, as I was never able to get any of the original stock. Discussing "Buckfast" with the folks in the UK is opening a can of worms. They have a bee, Amm, that some think is the perfect bee for their climate, and Adams bee has polluted their stock. Others think Buckfast is an improvement. I don't keep bees in the UK and so I can't add anything to the debate. I certainly wouldn't be so presumptuous as to tell them what to do.
> 
> The "Buckfast" stock that Roy had in the 90s was very resistant to Acarapis. In the height of the infestation, my yellow bees died and my dark Buckfast bees survived. That and a hygienic strain of Carniolan was the beginning of my breeding program.
> 
> As far as any connection to the Canadian Buckfast program, I can't see any. I bought some cells raised from a Ferguson breeder, and I wintered the daughters in nucs. They were okay, but nothing of note. Certainly nothing on which to build a breeding program.
> 
> No secrets here. After years of selecting breeding stock from top performers, I have bees that are pretty good. Nothing anyone couldn't do, it just takes time.


Are you going to sell any queens to BetterBee this year?


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## Michael Palmer

No


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## clyderoad

Michael Palmer said:


> No


In 2014 I bought some northern queens from Betterbee. I recall a group of 3 beekeepers supplied the queens
from your neck of the woods, I think you were one.
Do you recall if those queens were from the same stock.


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## Michael Palmer

I don't


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## clyderoad

Thank you.


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## Bob J

kaizen said:


> Bob have you been out to your yards to get hiveminder data? interested to see the weight changes over the course of the winter


I have... Much less weight loss than I was expecting given the warmer than normal winter weather.... Most of the hives seem to be down roughly 8lbs or so from their early December weights.... Will be interesting to see how much that trend picks up once the early brood rearing starts....


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## Michael Palmer

Warm winters/cold winters...I've never seen any big difference in winter feed consumption. 10 lb. a month seems about right. That is, until brood rearing starts in the spring.


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## NewbeeInNH

Let's hope I have bees left to brood. I've never had a year like this past one. I'm still blaming ruined dandelion season (it was cold and rainy) which got them off to a poor nutritional start in May and then the queens that emerged from that season (splits) were less than quality. Then lack of fall flow (hot and dry) on top of that.


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## NewbeeInNH

Wunderground says the next 10 day forecast has above freezing temperatures every day. This is mid January so that's amazing. The good news is this could relieve some stress from the bees, not having to survive negative temperatures like some polar vortex blasts we've had in the past. The bad news could be if it stays warm and they ramp up brood and then winter decides to zap us in March with negatives like it did last year.


----------



## kaizen

NewbeeInNH said:


> Let's hope I have bees left to brood. I've never had a year like this past one. I'm still blaming ruined dandelion season (it was cold and rainy) which got them off to a poor nutritional start in May and then the queens that emerged from that season (splits) were less than quality. Then lack of fall flow (hot and dry) on top of that.


2016 certainly was humbling. My first year of 2015 I started with 2 nucs and ended with 4 hives and 6 nucs. I thought "well this aint so tough". going into this winter even after buying nucs and queens i'm just a few above that and already lost 2 nucs. I've spent a lot of time....probably too much time.....reviewing what I saw and if I would have done anything different through the year. everything looked like it should have been a great year. no grand talk from me about how easy this hobby is anymore.


----------



## NewbeeInNH

It can get discouraging. I think that's why a lot of beekeepers quit after the first couple years. My main focus for next season is to create enough insurance (splits) that should my yard crash 50%, I still have bees to work with the following spring. That's what I usually do anyway. Funny that the mosquito population never seems to crash. I think it's because we don't fiddle with them enough.


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## sailracer_98

Speaking of quitting... My hive died out sometime over the past month. It appears a mite infestation did it in. I did a sugar roll to count mites at the beginning of September and only got two off my 1/2 cup of bees, so I figured the level was low enough and I didn't do any treatments. Oops. Anyway, I had a fun year learning all about bees and beekeeping but in the end it is going to be more work and worry than I figured and I am not prepared to put the time, effort and money required to do this successfully. I also discovered I get pretty bad localized swelling from stings, which doesn't help.

So, I'm thinking I would like to give my equipment away to a local beekeeper in or around Hopkinton in exchange for a few jars of honey each season as I find it helps me with allergies. I have two deeps with plastic frames maybe 80% drawn and with a fair amount of honey on them still), two mediums with plastic frames, never put on the hive, a 3 or 4 gallon top feeder, queen excluder, homemade pry scale, solid bottom board, inner cover top cover, smoker, hive tool, brush, cheap veil pullover, gloves. If anyone local to me on this thread is interested or knows somebody who may be interested, send me a message. I'll give it a few weeks before I start trying to sell it off or let my wife convince me to give beekeeping another go 

Ryan McDaniel
Hopkinton, MA


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## NewbeeInNH

You know, you might want to wait until spring rolls around just to make sure you don't have 2nd thoughts about giving it another go...


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## Cloverdale

Personally, let your wife talk you into giving it another go. You now have a years experience and plenty to read up on for the rest of the winter.


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## Spark

Nothing against you Ryan but quiting after 1 season come on. I don't think you have even made an attempt to make it work yet. Do you have a mentor to help you?

I am close by if you really want help.


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## NewbeeInNH

Yeah. What else are you going to waste your time and money on?


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## sailracer_98

NewbeeInNH said:


> Yeah. What else are you going to waste your time and money on?


That's one of my problems- too many other hobbies. And a job  

@Spark

Yeah, I don't like giving up but I need to cut my losses before I get even deeper into this. My preconceived notion of one small, easy hive providing my yard with pollinators and a small supply of honey for me and friends/neighbors turned out to be unrealistic. It seems you need multiple hives and nucs and a relatively big operation to be self sustaining.

I didn't have a mentor, though one probably would have helped. I read a lot and learned as I went. I view my investment in bees and equipment as the cost of entertainment and education and got my money's worth in that respect. The marginal return on investment of adding another hive and purchasing more bees is much lower now that I have had my fun and education. I'd rather let my equipment go to someone else. Incidentally- I have had a lot of response to my offer and I had no idea there were so many beekeepers nearby to me. I joined the Middlesex club, but never went to a meeting in person since they were too far a drive. Metro-west should have its own club!.


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## MAXANT

Dont give up! 


sailracer_98 said:


> Speaking of quitting... My hive died out sometime over the past month. It appears a mite infestation did it in. I did a sugar roll to count mites at the beginning of September and only got two off my 1/2 cup of bees, so I figured the level was low enough and I didn't do any treatments. Oops. Anyway, I had a fun year learning all about bees and beekeeping but in the end it is going to be more work and worry than I figured and I am not prepared to put the time, effort and money required to do this successfully. I also discovered I get pretty bad localized swelling from stings, which doesn't help.
> 
> So, I'm thinking I would like to give my equipment away to a local beekeeper in or around Hopkinton in exchange for a few jars of honey each season as I find it helps me with allergies. I have two deeps with plastic frames maybe 80% drawn and with a fair amount of honey on them still), two mediums with plastic frames, never put on the hive, a 3 or 4 gallon top feeder, queen excluder, homemade pry scale, solid bottom board, inner cover top cover, smoker, hive tool, brush, cheap veil pullover, gloves. If anyone local to me on this thread is interested or knows somebody who may be interested, send me a message. I'll give it a few weeks before I start trying to sell it off or let my wife convince me to give beekeeping another go
> 
> Ryan McDaniel
> Hopkinton, MA


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## Spark

Ryan ... Norfolk County Beekeepers meet in Walpole closer for you about 1/2 drive on backroads through Holliston & Millis.

It is a lot tougher your first year than you think you can make it but 2 hives makes it easier. You should make another attempt.


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## AAIndigo

Spark said:


> Ryan ... Norfolk County Beekeepers meet in Walpole closer for you about 1/2 drive on backroads through Holliston & Millis.
> 
> It is a lot tougher your first year than you think you can make it but 2 hives makes it easier. You should make another attempt.


I would think Worcester is closer but you will be welcomed at both. GO TO BEE SCHOOL. Learn and enjoy your bees.


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## AAIndigo

sailracer_98 said:


> That's one of my problems- too many other hobbies. And a job
> 
> @Spark
> 
> Yeah, I don't like giving up but I need to cut my losses before I get even deeper into this. My preconceived notion of one small, easy hive providing my yard with pollinators and a small supply of honey for me and friends/neighbors turned out to be unrealistic. It seems you need multiple hives and nucs and a relatively big operation to be self sustaining.
> 
> I didn't have a mentor, though one probably would have helped. I read a lot and learned as I went. I view my investment in bees and equipment as the cost of entertainment and education and got my money's worth in that respect. The marginal return on investment of adding another hive and purchasing more bees is much lower now that I have had my fun and education. I'd rather let my equipment go to someone else. Incidentally- I have had a lot of response to my offer and I had no idea there were so many beekeepers nearby to me. I joined the Middlesex club, but never went to a meeting in person since they were too far a drive. Metro-west should have its own club!.


Funny. I had too many hobbies a few years back but was interested in Bees so I let a friend set up a hive at my house. Now this is a 5 acre property that my wife runs a flower farm out of. So we set the hive up with local wood-ware and a package from a guy in Uxbridge. My buddy turns out to be a dead beat dad and I'm entranced by these bees. So I read all I can and join this forum and read so much more.

Needless to say the hive dies out. Packages from GA. Never had a chance. Mild winter and they still died out. But I'm hooked.

I join my local Bee club NCBA and go to bee school. Reading all the time. Dead beat dad is still a dead beat.

I get a PM from a Local BEEK selling over wintered Nucs. I hook him up with the club and he sells 60+ nucs. So I offer my services as a helper and we pull 60+ nucs and re-Queen. Now I'm more then hooked. I end up working his hives with him every weekend.

I take a local queen rearing class and see that my 5 hive apiary is way to small for grafting. I see that splits or Notching are in my future.

Well my mentor is overwhelmed with his full time construction business. He sees my dedication and natural beekeeping abilities so he makes me an offer I cannot refuse. He really hooked me up and for this I am truly blessed and appreciative.

I now own this apiary. (2nd year in). Huge learning curve but I have personally grafted 80 queens last year and run 100 double nucs (with losses due to drought this year like all here). But I have sold out of over wintered Nucs and some spring.

My plan is to grow My home yard and some surrounding yards along with the existing yards. My mentor is still by my side. His experience and knowledge are second to none. 

SO DONT GIVE UP. Go to Bee school and love your bees or stick to your hobby and sell your drawn out hive on CL for $400.00 in the spring.

I now have 2 - 42 to 46 Dodges in need of restoration and a 61 JD Hydraulic garden tractor with tons of attachments for sale. PM me if your interested.

That dead beat dad is still dead but my wife's farm is flourishing.

Archie


----------



## clyderoad

AAIndigo said:


> Needless to say the hive dies out. Packages from GA. Never had a chance. Mild winter and they still died out. But I'm hooked.


That's a good story, good luck.
Still think the GA bees died out because they are from GA and never had a chance in MA, mild winter and all? Or could it be something else?
Just curious.


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## AAIndigo

Ga Bees died out because they were from Ga. Thats what I was getting at.


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## MaineMike

Instead of starting a new thread thought I'd jump on this New England one, New member here, looking for mentor near York County Maine or Rockingham County NH.

I'll own up right from the start, lost colony last week due not not feeding enough in fall, I beleive.

June frames looked great, brood surrounded by capped honey, but then - and I'd like to bounce this off you experts - the drought we had last year contributed to a dearth. I abut a 9 acre wild flower field, and it was LOADED with goldenrod last fall, so it makes no sense other than the lack of rain - and low necter flow, that the bees didnt store enough honey. 

When I opened the hive the bottom super was cleaned out of stores, and there was one outside frame left in the top where the (dead) cluster was, but they couldnt get to it, apparently. In late December I placed a slab of candy on the frames, they ate some, but it apparently did not help them enough - there were some bees still on it, dead, assume the cold got them. 

I did not see any evidence of varroa - I treated with Quick Strips over Labor Day, and my mite board check was below the limits suggested.

Hive had ventilation, with foam insul inside tele-cover. Hive was wrapped with a cozy.

Lessons learn, I think:

-Concentrate on stores evaluation and early fall feeding
-Close SBB in fall - Im in a windy location - this may have exacerbated increased stores consumption, yes?
-Leave helping store on frames, candy and sugar.

Anyways, that's my sad tale, any comments or guidance appreciated.

( and yes, they were GA bees, Italian )

Best,
Mike


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## kaizen

Mike its a rough year. seems the swath of southern nh from me over to you had blooms of dandilions and goldenrod but no nectar. we all got caught short handed. mine also stopped laying due to the dearth. so there wasn't enough bees to keep warm and get through the winter. with one colony you're stuck. always good to have 2 or more so you can compare them. 
I literally don't even check for varroa anymore as the results I found my first year were not accurate. I just stick to a treatment schedule with oav now. I recommend if you get another colony you do the same. 
The comments above about southern bees were a little toung in cheek. while i'm not starting a debate here and I would love to stick with stock from the snow belt.....chances are if you had snow bees they would have died as well. in other words many people have had package bees do fine up here. not like they come up with shorts and tank tops on. 
Plenty of us on this thread around your area so don't hesitate to send a question or message. sounds like you have a pretty good grasp so far. maybe you should hit up indigo to get his equipment so you can have 2 hives this year.


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## MaineMike

Thanks for the kind words, good to know you are in the area. Yes, a second hive starting this spring, supers already in hand. I'm looking forward to getting a head start with the 20 frames of comb from last years hive. I have questions about that, but that's for another thread...

Stay Warm,
Mike


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## camero7

AAIndigo said:


> Ga Bees died out because they were from Ga. Thats what I was getting at.


Funny, I get packages from GA or Fl. Don't have much trouble keeping them alive. But I treat and feed. Maybe that's the problem


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## clyderoad

camero7 said:


> Funny, I get packages from GA or Fl. Don't have much trouble keeping them alive. But I treat and feed. Maybe that's the problem


Yeah, sure you do Cam. Sure.
With all the reports of junk package bees dying lately it's 
impossible to keep them alive no matter what. Just Impossible.


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## Bob J

Unusually warm winter weather continues... Last week (Monday to Sunday) nighttime lows ranging from 22 to 45F and daytime highs from 40 to 62F. 2 days above 50F. Rainfall for the month (January) is 1.28" and there was no snowfall last week. 

Checked 3 of 4 outyards on the warm day (Saturday) and it was good to see the bees flying... Checked fondant blocks and replaced with new as needed. Some hives are taking it and some aren't but that is pretty much par for the course from my experience. Broodminders are still showing temps consistent with no brood. No additional losses (so far anyway) over those we had in the fall.


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## Bob J

Weather this week is turning a bit more seasonal... Nighttime lows ranging from 32 to 39F and daytime highs from 40 to 51F. 1 day above 50F. Had a significant rain early in the week which would have been a classic Noreasterner if it had been colder. Rainfall for the month (January) is 2.74" and there was no snowfall last week.

Had a chance last night to watch the "Beekeeping in Northern Climates" video put out by the University of Minnesota Extension. Marla Spivak did a great job of covering the basics of beekeeping as well as the 2 Queen Horizontal method developed by professor Furgala. Very interesting approach and well worth a look if you want to buy/borrow a copy.

Beekeeping in Northern Climates


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## Bob J

Weather this week continued to be seasonal... Nighttime lows ranging from 21 to 30F and daytime highs from 30 to 45F. No days above 50F. Rainfall for the month (January) was 2.74" and for Feb is 0.9". YTD rainfall is 2.83". Drought conditions have been moved from "Extreme" to "Moderate" with the recent rainfall amounts.... 1.5" of snowfall last week.

StateDroughtMonitor


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## Lauri

I'm about 3 hours from the Canadian border, 3 hours from the coast, so my temps are usually moderated a bit, but not always. 2017 has been a record cold year for us with extended temps in the teens and single digits.

Here are a few pics from today. I wonder how many watts this place puts off? 

JBLM military aircraft fly over frequently, I can only imagine what they think if they have any thermal imagery at all.


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## Bob J

Very cool Lauri! Looks like they may be kicking off brooding...;- ) Do you have pollen patties on? I'm planning on putting mine on the end of the month/early March.... 

Interesting the differences in the weather between your location and mine... Overall it's been a pretty mild winter here so far....


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## Bob J

Finished going over my notes for bloom and flow for last year.... Please note that the bloom dates recorded are the first observed bloom.... Only those blooms are included where I actually saw bees foraging...


----------



## Lauri

Bob J said:


> Very cool Lauri! Looks like they may be kicking off brooding...;- ) Do you have pollen patties on? I'm planning on putting mine on the end of the month/early March....
> 
> Interesting the differences in the weather between your location and mine... Overall it's been a pretty mild winter here so far....


I got wet patties on about half of them 1-28-17 before the weather got ugly again. 
The smaller nucs have a sugar block topped with a generous sifting of dry Bee Pro. 









Slipped one of those blocks on top of the larger colonies that were in the top of the hives too, just to hold them over until I can get in and adjust them with honey overhead and possible feed if temps allow. 
Problem with about 10% of my hives this winter is, my blackberry flow was a bust last season,(cool wet weather) +Nectar tricked in all July from wildflowers, weeds, etc. (Usually by July 4th, my flow is DONE) It was odd to see the bees busy all July.

Some of the colonies had already moved up so fall feeding & what little fall flow we get was stored in available comb_ below _the colonies. I didn't plug into that or I would have reconfigured them last fall. Colonies that are in that category were nucs that didn't get fed well enough during the summer, older colonies that superceded their queen late in summer and struggled a bit. Those missed a lot of the incoming available natural feed sources.











These nucs shown above, I checked a few days ago, top box with the majority of the bees still had weight, bees extended down into bottom box which was full of honey. I chose to leave them as they were ,but gave them a fortified sugar block. If weather was better and they were more active, or if the top box was light, I would have reversed them.

I see almost instant heat increases is all cases within just a day or two if I give them a block. It seems to aid them with needed energy so they can access feed below and get started with brood rearing.

With the FLIR ONE I have been amazed to see colonies that were in the top box move _down_ after I've given them a block.
I've also been amazed to see the movement of large colonies move up quickly after an extended bitter spell. 



This one was probably the worst, anytime I have 2 feeders in the hive (Empty- from fall feeding) I was trying to get lots of feed into them. Bottom deep was full of capped honey & feed, top box with a majority of the bees was light as a feather. These got reversed-feeders out, fat honey frames along side of the bees in the bottom, honey and comb frames above. If a person just hefted the hive, they'd think it was plenty heavy. They'd likely get a rude surprise come spring.









Here is a mating nuc on the fence that is a dead out. (compare to the glowing ones behind it) Nice to know early so I can distribute those mini frames to other strong growing nucs.









So far, a handfull of nucs have been my only losses.


----------



## Bob J

Thanks! I've been a little leary of encouraging them to brood up too soon.... Most of my bees are carni mutts and so the winter clusters are fairly small.... Given the vagaries of the weather here at this time of year I'm afraid of locking them on brood during a patch of extended cold weather and having them starve out.... Given your experience with your current weather it may be worth me rethinking this as it looks like your bees are Carni as well....

Great idea using the FLIR to identify and distribute deadout stores...:thumbsup:


----------



## clyderoad

Bob J said:


> Thanks! I've been a little leary of encouraging them to brood up too soon....


Very smart to be cautious. Even pushing them beginning March 1 is sometimes risky.
Spring weather is unpredictable and a roll of the dice more often than not so have a plan B.
If the colonies are not needed for pollination early then I have seen no benefit in pushing them at all.


----------



## Bob J

clyderoad said:


> Very smart to be cautious. Even pushing them beginning March 1 is sometimes risky.
> Spring weather is unpredictable and a roll of the dice more often than not so have a plan B.
> If the colonies are not needed for pollination early then I have seen no benefit in pushing them at all.


Thanks! Only pollination I do is a hive or two in my yard in May for my fruit trees in Quincy.... My main focus is making sure I have a good build up in time to support the main flows for honey production.... Where my apiaries are (Quincy, Rockland, Needham, Weymouth and Marshfield) this is usually around week 18 (first week in May) so I guess I could even wait until mid to late March and still be in pretty good shape.


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## clyderoad

Bob J said:


> I guess I could even wait until mid to late March and still be in pretty good shape.


Certainly more safe later and with time for 2 brood cycles if all goes right. Plenty of bees for pollination and 'increasing' hives
are better pollinators, open brood cause the colony to forage like crazy whereas 'mature' colonies with mostly capped brood and
a smaller brood nest not as crazy and may have already thought about flying to the trees.

A late spring or a upside down one like last year causes more problems than it's worth when pushing bees. Most times equalizing is the
safest bet with very good results. 

That said, I need 25 more hives for pollination this spring and need to push some of my bees to get them made. Operative word is 'some'! We are located in the wrong neck of the woods to go at this artificial spring buildup too aggressively IMO.

Good luck this spring Bob J, I hope it's a good one for us all and the weather is kind all season long.


----------



## Lauri

Bob J said:


> Thanks! I've been a little leary of encouraging them to brood up too soon.... Most of my bees are carni mutts and so the winter clusters are fairly small.... Given the vagaries of the weather here at this time of year I'm afraid of locking them on brood during a patch of extended cold weather and having them starve out.... Given your experience with your current weather it may be worth me rethinking this as it looks like your bees are Carni as well....
> 
> Great idea using the FLIR to identify and distribute deadout stores...:thumbsup:


Yes, they are all from a Carniolan background. 

I know my bees well, several generations now all reared and mated on my place. No unknown genetics to wonder about.

I feed them well late summer to go into winter with good populations of young bees, so my colony size is larger than normal for Carnies, but they are frugal with their stores so I can get away with it. It's amazing how little honey they consume overwinter. Honey bound hives are a bigger concern for me over starvation issues.









Above is an early October photo.

I make nucs in spring and want to rear queens as early as possible. My situation is a little different than most.

I've expanded so fast, I've focused on producing bees and my honey production is only to support that, so I leave all honey in the hives until spring. That's why I overwinter so many very large hives. I just let them take care of the drawn comb and honey for me until I need it the next spring when I start making up nucs. 

Not likely they will starve unless they are configured wrong or are in a tiny mating nuc size hive. I lose a few of those mating nuc sized colonies every year, but overwinter about 80 % successfully. It's difficult to get enough feed into them and leave them room to rear fall brood when they only have a few half sized deep frames. I admit hunting season overlaps with that last late feeding, so if I choose to go, a few of my smaller colonies don't quite get the care they need to be properly prepped for winter.

I am 2 weeks early with my wet patties this year, but that is due to my observations the last couple years I should be feeding a little earlier than mid Feb. _for my local climate and my strain of bees_.


With my late Jan inspections, many of them were rearing brood already without stimulative feeding. I need to support that if I want to be a the best position come spring.









Feeding larger hives give me the populations I am looking for + early drone production. I want plenty of fairly early, well fed healthy drones.
This is an early spring photo from last year. Yes, that is all drone brood surrounded by overwintered honey. 









Naturally they are looking for protein this time of year, so I me supplemental feeding schedule correlates with their wants. I usually open fed dry Bee Pro starting late January, but currently that is not an option, obviously. My temps are forecast to be about 50 later in the week and back to normal. I look forward to getting to work!









Below, this is one of my open feed areas with inverted bucket of syrup and dry bee pro. inch:
There's not much interest in the syrup this time of year, but the ones that need it will take it up, even when temps are cool. The dry Bee Pro is the hit if the party late Jan-early Feb.

This storm is a fluke, I'll likely be back to my normal weather in no time. But I have 2 tons of sugar sitting in my barn, just in case.


----------



## kaizen

hitting 50 today for a few hours before another snowstorm so made more sugar blocks for the top of my hives in my home yard. just took a quick peek to see how much bricks to bring out and it doesn't look good. started winter with 3 nucs and 3 hives and before jan I lost 2 nucs and one hive. two remaining hives look dead. gonna be a rough winter.


----------



## richstrong

sailracer_98 said:


> That's one of my problems- too many other hobbies. And a job
> 
> @Spark
> 
> Yeah, I don't like giving up but I need to cut my losses before I get even deeper into this. My preconceived notion of one small, easy hive providing my yard with pollinators and a small supply of honey for me and friends/neighbors turned out to be unrealistic. It seems you need multiple hives and nucs and a relatively big operation to be self sustaining.
> 
> I didn't have a mentor, though one probably would have helped. I read a lot and learned as I went. I view my investment in bees and equipment as the cost of entertainment and education and got my money's worth in that respect. The marginal return on investment of adding another hive and purchasing more bees is much lower now that I have had my fun and education. I'd rather let my equipment go to someone else. Incidentally- I have had a lot of response to my offer and I had no idea there were so many beekeepers nearby to me. I joined the Middlesex club, but never went to a meeting in person since they were too far a drive. Metro-west should have its own club!.


Don't give up!
I'm coming up on my second year. I had 2 hives last year and lost them both of them to early cold snaps. I was devastated. 
I live in a area that gets dense fog and wind, so I've learned from that. I'm gonna get 2 more packages of bees, and try some swarm traps as well to save on money and to learn a thing or two. I Joined this forum and have made contact with acouple local old timers who are now showing me the ropes. Ive yet to find a beekeeper that doesnt want to help me.
You've come this far, apply what youve learned and keep going buddy!


----------



## camero7

Getting lots of reports of major losses from my circle here in Central MA. Different methods of treating and different management styles. I believe there is a virulent strain of DWV in the area now and that is causing many of the losses. I'm losing about 80% of my hives right now... Plenty to eat, good clusters in the fall. Dead now


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## funwithbees

Hi Cam, same deal with us beeks next door to you in NY. Lots of honey, good clusters at fall harvest, 50%dead by thanksgiving. some worse than that and its not over yet. some are leaning to ineffective early mite control, allowing the viruses to over run the colony. some are leaning to DVW-B which has covert symptoms and has 2X the virulence on DWV-A. Nobody is real sure. might bee something new in the virus dept? or increased stress on our bees from the summer drought? :scratch: We all need a fix before the season repeats.
Nick
gridleyhollow.com


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## camero7

I'm going to send some bees to Dave Wick to test for virus... hopefully he'll have some answers


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## squarepeg

terrible news about the losses, thanks for keeping us udated cam.


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## funwithbees

BIP ran ours for viruses, mites nosema and chem in comb . We had abpv, bqcv and dwv in most if not all .Sept levels of mites were 0-13/100 bees-ave 4.2= High. They were treated with formic in late may and late july . nosema was nominal. some yards had piles of dead bees in late july/august. Looked like normal dwv symptoms,but the bees looked normal. no deformed wings etc. BIP thought the early mite treatment was not as effective as it should have been, allowing the viruses to take hold and over run the colony. some yards are fine, some are mostly dead. maybe poor nutritional pollen from the early summer drought. ?
Worst thing about having a virus problem is that nobody has a fix to cure the viruses.:kn:
Nick
gridleyhollow.com


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## camero7

I have no deformed wings either... not now or in early fall.


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## wildbranch2007

camero7 said:


> I have no deformed wings either... not now or in early fall.


nobody up here had deformed wing, even in the deadouts, plenty of pollen, plenty of bees, queens still laying, with good mite control in Sept. If your yards were isolated, or all the beeks around you also treated, hives are normal. Hmmmmm


----------



## camero7

seemed like I got pretty good mite control but I don't trust the JB700, so I'm not really certain.... My yards are somewhat isolated. I don't know of a beekeeper withing 2 miles of 2 of them. A sideliner is close to another yard. Don't know if he treated or with what.


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## Fusion_power

> Worst thing about having a virus problem is that nobody has a fix to cure the viruses.


 Which makes genetic mite resistance all the more important.


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## NewbeeInNH

MaineMike, if you're still around, you can give Seacoast Beekeepers a try! They meet in Lee, NH the 3rd Thursday of every month, 7 p.m. Let me know if you want info.

My bees aren't doing well this winter compared to other years. I'm hoping I have at least 2 nucs that survive, 4 of them are alive at the moment. My former mentor said all her bees have died, she's starting with new packages and new queens. 

The drought was certainly a killer, causing plants to put off pollen but not nectar, so that stores were super low in August. But I'm wondering if there's a new problem floating around, with the problems people in this area are having with their hives overwintering this year and lacking in stores last August. In my 5 or 6 years of doing this, I may have lost a couple hives over winter, but not like this. Folks are scratching their heads. Could have been poor nutrition and lack of feed from the drought, or I wonder if there were scarce stores because of another issue, maybe viral. I'm keeping my ears open.

P.S. To treat with antibiotics, you now need to be under the auspices of a veterinarian. Not sure if this is a statewide mandate, or national.


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## Ramona

Last year I came though the winter 21/21. 

This year I went into winter with 43 in 4 locations. Leominster yard #1 is now 8/16, yard #2 (~ 1 1/2 mile away) 9/13, Fitchburg 1/2, New Braintree 2/12. When I talked to Ken Warhol at the beginning of January, he told me that the losses in the New Braintree area were devastating this year and he believes traced to viruses spread by robbers during the dearth. 

Colonies (dead and alive) are a mix of 2-3 ten frame deeps and 2-3 5 frame deeps.

All my colonies are treatment free with the exception of three colonies in New Braintree that originated from treated stock. Those colonies were treated in October both this year and last year with OAV. Those three did not survive this year.

Some of my colonies went into fall with a surplus of natural stores. Others required feed. Most of the colonies that needed feed are among the dead outs.


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## Michael Palmer

Ramona said:


> When I talked to Ken Warhol at the beginning of January, he told me that the losses in the New Braintree area were devastating this year and he believes traced to viruses spread by robbers during the dearth.


Maybe. I do think the dearth had something to do with it, but the viruses weren't spread by robbing. Varroa was building up during the summer. Then lack of nectar flow caused reduced brood rearing later in the season, and the varroa population over ran what brood they did have. Ramona, I've seen this before. Same cause, same results.


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## MaineMike

NewBee : Im sorry to hear that, and I just caught up on this thread and see others are loosing hives as well :-( Now Im wondering about DWV mentioned above - I did have dead bees in front of the hive mid summer, lots, but read that could be normal. I learned to specifically check the wings - their wings did look normal though. Already planning new tactics for this year, package OVA treatment, SBB w/solid bottom, drone frames... late August feed feed feed... if need. 

Yes, send me info on the club, or I can search for it, Lee is a short drive for me. Thanks for the info.

Mike


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## NewbeeInNH

Michael Palmer said:


> Maybe. I do think the dearth had something to do with it, but the viruses weren't spread by robbing. Varroa was building up during the summer. Then lack of nectar flow caused reduced brood rearing later in the season, and the varroa population over ran what brood they did have. Ramona, I've seen this before. Same cause, same results.


You're reminding me to really, really pay attention when the winter bees are being developed. This is the time to check the hives to make triple sure that there are enough stores to ensure a healthy crop of winter bees.

That said, when exactly would that time be? The first of August?

Varroa take advantage of hive stress. Anything we can do to reduce stress in the hives will make them more resilient to mites. So no skipping meals. I haven't had to worry about that issue before last summer, but now it will be a priority.

MaineMike: I private messaged you with the info.


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## Bob J

Last week nighttime lows ranging from 12 to 34F and daytime highs from 27 to 51F. 1 day above 50F. Rainfall for the month (Feb) is 0.87" and YTD is 3.61". 15.7" of snowfall last week. 

Checked outyards on Saturday between storms to check stores and clear lower entrances of snow. Everything still looks good with no significant brooding. Some chilled bees dotting the snow but nothing significant. Capping distributions on the bottom board still show what I would consider normal consumption of stores. Hive weight trends still seems to be showing roughly 8lbs loss per month.


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## kaizen

In my last dead out I was really surprised at the number of dead bees. I actually put it back together thinking they were just in torpor. But as it hit 50 I knew they were gone. The arrangement of the dead was also strange. I had 2 deeps with a quilt box on top. It looked like the hive was in the middle of an active day with bees dying while uncapping honey, some head in the cells, some just sitting on top of the frames. I also noticed there were not concentrations of bees as I've seen in other dead outs that were the size of a soft ball but more of a grouping in the top left and bottom right. Like they separated and were not balled up for heat. plenty of stores and oav. observation would indicate disorientation and freezing as I hadn't had any days above 40 for the previous several weeks.


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## NewbeeInNH

Weird, kaizen. I had a 2-part cluster freezout last winter but I think that's because the temp dropped into the negatives unexpectedly in March and they were already covering brood. Actually, only one of the two clusters froze, the other cluster made it but they were queenless, so that didn't work out too well.

I found 3 caterpillars climbing my walls here, and realized, after looking at the wax debris I have next to the woodstove for firestarters, that they are wax moths caterpillars! I read Michael Bush write one time that once he got wax moths in the house, he never got rid of them. I have found that to be true. I stuck the rest of the wax out the door to freeze. Grr.

The nucs are pretty well entombed right now in snow. Even with snowshoes on it's hard to get around out there so they're going to have to stay like that for now. Just another reason for them to die off probably, but they're halfway there anyway. Bleh. What I wouldn't give right now to be in the southeast. Raise your hand if you know what I'm talking about.


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## kaizen

funny Newbee I had a nuc this fall killed by them.....or they moved in after....gross little buggers. gave me the heebee geebees. they were on foundation so I scraped the mess off but then actually threw the frames away instead of putting back with my overwinter storage. I also learned from that story from Michael bush. man if I started stepping on those larvae on a 3am bathroom trip......ewww


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## Scitfrostbite

Ramona- you state OAV in October. But they might have been still laying so if you did one treatment that could be an issue. I have been told that I need to do one treatment in late November when no brood. That said, if you did three OAV in October, that should have done it.

Just wondering how you treated with OAV in October?


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## Ramona

Scitfrostbite said:


> Ramona- you state OAV in October. But they might have been still laying so if you did one treatment that could be an issue. I have been told that I need to do one treatment in late November when no brood. That said, if you did three OAV in October, that should have done it.
> 
> Just wondering how you treated with OAV in October?


When I find my field notebook I can be sure of details. What I'm remembering is 3 OAV treatments, 5-7 days apart. I did not do mite counts before or after. Made decision to treat based on the look of the brood and the history of the bees.

I was on the fence about treating and waited too long. This year I will act sooner (August) if I am going to treat.


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## BadBeeKeeper

kaizen said:


> In my last dead out I was really surprised at the number of dead bees. I actually put it back together thinking they were just in torpor. But as it hit 50 I knew they were gone. The arrangement of the dead was also strange. I had 2 deeps with a quilt box on top. It looked like the hive was in the middle of an active day with bees dying while uncapping honey, some head in the cells, some just sitting on top of the frames. I also noticed there were not concentrations of bees as I've seen in other dead outs that were the size of a soft ball but more of a grouping in the top left and bottom right. Like they separated and were not balled up for heat. plenty of stores and oav. observation would indicate disorientation and freezing as I hadn't had any days above 40 for the previous several weeks.


Yeah, I have one like that too. They are all spread out all over a bunch of frames like everything was normal and then everything just 'stopped'. The hive was insulated but I discovered that they were without an entrance reducer. Current hypothesis is that a frigid wind blew in just right and froze them.



NewbieNH said:


> The nucs are pretty well entombed right now in snow. Even with snowshoes on it's hard to get around out there so they're going to have to stay like that for now. Just another reason for them to die off probably, but they're halfway there anyway. Bleh. What I wouldn't give right now to be in the southeast. Raise your hand if you know what I'm talking about.


Yep, gotta break out the snowshoes today myself, hives are almost completely buried...and more snow coming tomorrow. But I still wouldn't want to be keeping bees in the SE, wax moths, hive beetles and AHB? No thanks, I'll take the snow.


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## NewbeeInNH

Mainiac!!!


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## NewbeeInNH

A funny thing happened on the way to the beeyard...

Okay, actually with all the snow we've had I just haven't been able to snowshoe out to the beeyard to clear entrances. But walking nearby to feed the chickens, I noticed that my 2 nuc boxes that are apparently still alive had cleared their own entrances with their cluster heat. The funny thing was, the entrances were cleared on the right side of one box, and on the adjoining left side of the other box, so I'm thinking they are sharing heat in there. That must help keep them alive, and I will always try now to cluster my hives in groups of 2 pushed right next to each other so that they can keep each other warm in winter.


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## MaineMike

Wintering in nuc boxes...? Have the bees been in the nukes since (I assume) they were split earlier this year? Thinking outside the nuc, would it be uncommon to move a colony from 10 frame deeps into nucs just for wintering - to reduce space? I guess the alternative would be to add dividers/insulation boards to one outside wall of the 2 deeps to reduce space and push the hives together to combine warmth.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> A funny thing happened on the way to the beeyard...
> 
> Okay, actually with all the snow we've had I just haven't been able to snowshoe out to the beeyard to clear entrances. But walking nearby to feed the chickens, I noticed that my 2 nuc boxes that are apparently still alive had cleared their own entrances with their cluster heat. The funny thing was, the entrances were cleared on the right side of one box, and on the adjoining left side of the other box, so I'm thinking they are sharing heat in there. That must help keep them alive, and I will always try now to cluster my hives in groups of 2 pushed right next to each other so that they can keep each other warm in winter.


I winter my nucs in a 10 frame deep with a divider board to separate the two colonies and have observed the same thing.... Each side clusters against the divider board as if it were one big colony.... It's like they want as big an air gap as possible between the cluster and the outside walls of the hive....


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## NewbeeInNH

Overwintering nucs is all the rage! There are some great youtube videos on it. I can't find Michael Palmer's at the moment, but he came and spoke to our NH State Beekeepers meeting about overwintering nucs. This is my first year trying it and I'm liking it so far, altho with our dud summer the results are a little skewed, I think they would have fared better if nectar sources had been ideal, but oh well. Divider boards work great. On Beesource, there is a beekeeper whose name escapes me right now (which probably isn't very helpful, I can remember it later but my hard drive is getting outdated...) who uses the dividers and insulation boards to keep her bees cozy. I believe she pretty much never loses a hive in winter, and she's in upstate NY.


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## Bob J

Nucs are awesome! I build mine in July typically and set them up to overwinter.... In the spring I move them into standard deep hive bodies and they become my main production hives. 

Here is Mike's Sustainable Apiary presentation which has a lot of good info:

Sustainable Apiary


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## NewbeeInNH

I'm thinking of using my 2 small nucs as reproduction units next summer, if they survive overwinter. Just pull brood frames out to make new nucs, and let them raise their queens or buy some Russian queens. I have to wait until early spring to see who is thriving out there and who is not, but it's never a bad idea to reproduce your survivors, I don't think.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> I'm thinking of using my 2 small nucs as reproduction units next summer, if they survive overwinter. Just pull brood frames out to make new nucs, and let them raise their queens or buy some Russian queens. I have to wait until early spring to see who is thriving out there and who is not, but it's never a bad idea to reproduce your survivors, I don't think.


Am thinking a nuc is too small to have a good split.... Might be worth considering moving them into a full hive and then splitting them back into nucs in the summer.... Right now I am buying queens as I am still evaluating genetics from a number of suppliers.... Once I get past this stage will be raising my own....


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## NewbeeInNH

Yeah, I think in Michael Palmer's videos he talks about keeping the overwintered nucs small by pulling frames out of them, otherwise you have to give them more space, or face swarming. I could be wrong about that, but I believe that's where I got the idea from.

I really like Cold Country Queens for Russians, Bob in NY I believe.


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## camero7

You can take a frame from each nuc and make a new nuc... I do it all the time. Just be sure to feed and put a pollen patty on them


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## kaizen

camero7 said:


> You can take a frame from each nuc and make a new nuc... I do it all the time. Just be sure to feed and put a pollen patty on them


Remember Cam lots of new keepers will be seeing this so i'd caution. 
In 2016 after a stellar 2015 I did just as you describe. Had 4 good nukes that I took frames from and added a honey frame so they could raise their own queen. All failed either at the queen raising or somewhere down the line. Bottom line after a month I had depleted my original 4 so I only had 1 left. Hard lesson to learn. Heck in 2015 I just had to drop a frame of anything in a box and I had a booming colony. even my feeding did not help these nucs in 2016
So I ordered queens and took resources from 4 production double deeps. some did super at first but none built up to where I wanted for winter. After my winter deadouts now I have one hive left out of all of that mess. Bottom line I was too late and too greedy. In our area late season nuc splits are a gamble. I do believe splitting our stock and overwintering nucs is the answer to self sufficiency. unfortunately the learning curve is steep.


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## clyderoad

Nucs are too weak in bees and resources to properly raise a good queen from larvae.

Cam didn't say it but I'd think he added a cell or queen to the 1 frame nuc he made and didn't have the 1 frame
nuc make it's own queen from larvae. Maybe he'll clarify.


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## camero7

> Cam didn't say it but I'd think he added a cell or queen to the 1 frame nuc he made and didn't have the 1 frame
> nuc make it's own queen from larvae. Maybe he'll clarify.


Thanks Clyde, should have stated, I only use mated queens to introduce to the new nuc. I NEVER expect them to raise their own. Actually I am not a fan of forcing bees to raise a queen. I almost always use cells or introduce queens. I have had pretty good success with virgin queens but I make the nuc stronger to last better until the queen mates and starts laying.


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## clyderoad

Cam>> I was already planning my trip to Spencer in case you had some new technique to teach me


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## camero7

After this horrible fall & winter I'm the last person who should be teaching anything about beekeeping...


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## clyderoad

camero7 said:


> After this horrible fall & winter I'm the last person who should be teaching anything about beekeeping...


I know, but you'll be back in the swing of things pretty soon.
All these losses this year has me looking over my shoulder, that's for darn sure.

Between crappy imported honey and bee "troubles" I planted 4 acres of berries last year- rasp, black, aronia, haskap and goose-
to hedge myself in case the hatchet falls my way.- Bees and berries going forward for me.


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## camero7

sounds like a plan


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## llgoddj

Clyde,

Where are you in Suffolk County, I'm in Nassau County, South shore. Would love to see you operation, do you run a farmer's market in the summer?

Larry


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## clyderoad

LLgoddj> PM'd you


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## Peter Montague

What are those of you who are going to feed with pollen thinking for timing this year? I know it's not even March yet but the weather over the next few weeks looks great? The Farmers Alminac says last frost will be April 7th for the boston area.


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## VickyLynn

I was planning to put on Global pollen patties on about March 15. I know I am a little north of you, (grew up in Somerville, though), but I don't want the bees to make so much brood that then they can't keep it warm in case a freak nor'easter appears. 

The last two days, all seven hives have been cleansing and orienting. I am tempted to put them on earlier, but then I temper myself. Spring fever et al. 
The last frost on April 7 seems awfully early. I have never put much store in the Farmers' Almanac after I discovered that their reputation was sealed when a printing shop apprentice in 1816, charged by his master to finish up the weather for the year, got bored and started making up interesting weather patterns. He forecast snow in July, and what do you know, it did that year, and the Farmers Almanac has had believers ever since. 
At least, that's the story I was told as a kid.


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## Scitfrostbite

My notes say I put first pollen patty on March 8th last yr. which I think was too early given the swarm mania that happened.

56 degrees in Hopkinton today and bees flying. Popped tops to check on sugar bricks under the quilts. All hives still alive. 

The hives that went into winter at more than 135lbs gross haven't touched the sugar, hives under 135lbs are up on the sugar bricks. The lightest at 98lbs, has consumed over half of the 9"x12" brick.


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## NewbeeInNH

Last March we had freak negative temperatures for I think 2 nights in a row. Be careful encouraging brood too early.

What a beautiful sunny day. I saw 2 hives flying. The rest are probably dead. Maybe I'll be surprised and one or two will prove me wrong in spring. But at least there are two. From those I can probably make 2 more. Maybe more if they're really robust. 

Worst year so far. I hope to never have a season like last year's. At least this year we have a lot of snow cover that will melt. The next hurdle will be a good spring and dandelion season, which would be a great advantage to the bees.


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## nediver

I'm on CT shore and had pollen coming in. Looked like willow and hazel. My hives chewed through a patty each in the last week. Three days ago I put dry pollen sub out and no one touched it. Now I know why. 

I think everything is early this year.


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## Bob J

Last week nighttime lows ranging from 24 to 45F and daytime highs from 36 to 59F. 3 days above 50F. Rainfall for the month (Feb) is 1.58" and YTD is 4.32". 3.5" of snowfall last week. 

Hive temperatures are climbing so it looks like all my hives are starting to brood. All hives have fondant on and some are taking it and some are not. My pollen patties will go on the middle of next month. Based on my bloom records (posted earlier) that timing should give them two brood cycles before the first of May and should ensure a good transition between the pollen patties and decent natural pollen coming in.


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## Lauri

My February has been just the opposite of last year.

Last year my bees could fly ALL but 4 or 5 days the entire month. This year they ONLY flew about 4 days in the entire month. It's been colder than normal this winter, tree buds are also behind in their development.

As this cool weather continues into the end of the month, I've lost more mating nucs than usual, a few larger nucs that were limping along going into winter didn't make it, but losses so far have been not surprising. All losses from starvation/not being able to move to honey.

Some mating nucs on mini frames doing surprisingly well. Overwintering those in such small colonies is always a crap shoot. This could be the year I lose many of them, but those extra queens early spring are sure nice to have on hand. 

I could sure use some flying weather (and working weather) More cold rainy and possibly snow in the forecast for the rest of the week and into the long range forecast. 





































A lot my colonies are still low in the hives with good populations, but likely are not rearing much brood yet. 

Some others that have been more active, are really ramping up, need more room and some feed overhead.


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## Scitfrostbite

Four straight days this week in the low 60s in February in Metrowest. 

My question is-- is this a good thing or bad thing?


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## Spark

I had lost 1 hive out of 11 in the first or second week of December 2016. It wasn't going to make it as it was having problems in early fall so it was not unexpected.

I checked all remaining 10 on Monday 2/20 some are stronger than others but all are looking good. I put some homemade pollen patties on to get them ready for what could be an early spring.

I did give them a fall mite treatment with a follow up OA drip in November which I have done in the past but not as good results. I did change to Lauri's
sugar blocks for winter feed this year so I am thinking this is what may have been the game changer for me. Past years I have not come through winter as lucky.

So a big shout out to Lauri :thumbsup:


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## Spark

double post


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## amirbay

My bees were busy today bringing a lot of pollen. Traffic was comparable to summer traffic.







The color off the pollen is grayish white with little yellow.
I want to find out what plant it is. Must be some tree.
Season has started, as far as I am concerned!


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## Mike01876

I could be mistaken, but here in Tewksbury MA it looks like the buds on my Norway and Silver Maples appear to be swelling, nothing at all on the Sugar Maples though.

The reason I note this is the similarity to the warm February weather we saw last year, unfortunately immediately followed by that hard freeze. We lost our Basswood flow but my friends with Apples and Peach Orchards fared far worse, hoping for better luck this year... I am a bit worried though given this afternoon was 69 degrees and we have a high in the mid 60s for the next two days as well!


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## clyderoad

amirbay said:


> My bees were busy today bringing a lot of pollen. Traffic was comparable to summer traffic.
> View attachment 31063
> 
> The color off the pollen is grayish white with little yellow.
> I want to find out what plant it is. Must be some tree.
> Season has started, as far as I am concerned!


Look high on the Elm and Maple trees for the buds. both fit your description and photo, especially Red maple and white elm if you have them there.


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## camero7

amirbay said:


> The color off the pollen is grayish white with little yellow.
> I want to find out what plant it is. Must be some tree.
> Season has started, as far as I am concerned!


No pollen coming in in all my yards yet. Thankfully. It's way too early. We'll lose hives in March if this keeps up...


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## Ramona

Pollen coming in today in Leominster. A very light beige/tan color. 68 degress!!! My numbers are still holding. Leominster colonies look to be 18/29, all treatment free. New Braintree, 2/12. The 2 New Braintree survivors are treatment free.


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## nediver

clyderoad said:


> Look high on the Elm and Maple trees for the buds. both fit your description and photo, especially Red maple and white elm if you have them there.


+1 looks like elm to me. Maybe red maple. If your in a city area everyone has Elm street or used to before Dutch elm disease.


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## VickyLynn

Yesterday was a balmy 59 degrees. Everyone was out. I sat in my folding beach chair in a snowbank watching orientation flights, I didn't see any pollen coming in. All seven hives still have sugar bricks left on top of the top deep in the feeding rim, and there were bees up munching. I received my global patties in the mail yesterday, but I'm going to wait until mid-March to put them on.


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## markus2

It was good to see some activity on all of my 5 hives during these unusually warm winter days. Hoping they all start building up their numbers. All 5 hives aren't that populated.


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## camero7

Interesting, still not seeing pollen coming in on my hives. I do see pussy willows swelling - about a month early. Flying weather about done for a while


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## NewbeeInNH

Yup, spring looks to be ending again late this week and next weekend, seeing highs in the 30s/lows in teens here. It ain't over yet.


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## camero7

Pussy willows popped today. Bees working them. Too bad it's turning colder now. 4 weeks earlier than last year.


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## Bob J

Last week was exceptionally warm with nighttime lows ranging from 30 to 50F and daytime highs from 42 to 74F. 5 days above 50F. Rainfall for the month (Feb) is 1.67" and YTD is 4.41". No snowfall last week. 

Hive temperatures indicate that all hives are now solidly brooding. All hives have fondant on and all are taking it. Hive scales are showing roughly 3x the weekly stores consumption. Pollen patties went on yesterday. Two yards (Marshfield and Weymouth) are showing signs of yellow and orange pollen coming in but nothing yet in Rockland or Needham. Cleaned out most of my deadouts (was pretty depressing). One hive had a mouse nest where the mouse guard had slipped enough for it to get in.... Most of the lower comb was trashed and the little bugger even gnawed on a number of the plastic frames. Sealed up the deadouts to prevent robbing and wax moths. 

Crocus, Snowdrops, Silver Maple, Red Maple and pussy willow are all just starting to bloom. Also saw a small number of Dandelions just starting to bloom. This is roughly 2 weeks earlier than even the 2016 bloom dates (which was the previous record early bloom).


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## OneMoreMike

Yellow pollen was coming in this weekend in Millis.


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## camero7

> Pollen patties went on yesterday.


seems a little early for patties, JMO


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## amirbay

camero7 said:


> seems a little early for patties, JMO


I disagree. It has been several days of good foraging weather. I peaked inside of one of my hives. There is new nectar too.
Next 3 days will be warm enough too. I think if the girls have not started brooding they will any time now. You can't put genie back in the bottle.
But the forecast for the next 3 weeks is not very good. So, patties at this time might be helpful to not run out of resources.
The last week of March should be good again.


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## Bob J

camero7 said:


> seems a little early for patties, JMO


Might well be Cam but everything seems to be several weeks early this year so made the call.... All hives are brooding and am seeing pollen coming in in two of the 4 outyards so figured at worst this will be a good insurance policy.... My earliest previous main flow was 2016 where it kicked in during week 18 (first week in May). Blooms this year are on a path (so far anyway) to beat that by several weeks so given two brood cycles I thought last weekend was my best shot timing wise.

Unfortunately as we all know New England weather is always a roll of the dice....;- )


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## NHCOR

Just want to start by saying I really enjoy reading this thread, and it's great to see what is going on with other local (I'm in central NH) beekeepers. This is my first year with bees and I've found it to be pretty enjoyable learning experience. I do have a question about bee temperament as you've been adding sugar blocks or fondant to hives; how aggressive have your bees been? I added a feeding shim during the warm up about a week and a half ago and the bees had broken cluster and were pretty aggressively head butting, and I opened the lid yesterday to see how much food they had taken down (and add more food if needed last warm day for a while) and they were really aggressive had to go grab the smoker just to be the inner cover sealed again. Just wondering if it's the time of year or just a mean batch of bees I did re-queen this hive in the middle of last year and the bees have been grumpy a couple times but never this bad.


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## nediver

NHCOR said:


> Just want to start by saying I really enjoy reading this thread, and it's great to see what is going on with other local (I'm in central NH) beekeepers. This is my first year with bees and I've found it to be pretty enjoyable learning experience. I do have a question about bee temperament as you've been adding sugar blocks or fondant to hives; how aggressive have your bees been? I added a feeding shim during the warm up about a week and a half ago and the bees had broken cluster and were pretty aggressively head butting, and I opened the lid yesterday to see how much food they had taken down (and add more food if needed last warm day for a while) and they were really aggressive had to go grab the smoker just to be the inner cover sealed again. Just wondering if it's the time of year or just a mean batch of bees I did re-queen this hive in the middle of last year and the bees have been grumpy a couple times but never this bad.



Very typical this time of year.


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## nediver

I think a $2 patty is great insurance. Same as a little winter feed. Natural pollen is already starting in our area. I would normally put them on ahead of maple which you can tell will be early by looking at the buds already. If you wait till pollen is readily available not much point in a patty. 

Carni and Russians might still be sleeping but Italians are not. From my experience a patty won't stimulate early Carni production. For example, in time for red maple they seems to sleep until Sugar Maple.


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## NewbeeInNH

Speaking of typical aggressive this time of year and pollen patties, I heard along the way observations that bees are more aggressive when short on pollen supply, and less aggressive when a pollen patty is put into the hive. You might want to try that nhcor, it's almost time anyway.

As far as going into the hive, here's what the retired state inspector told us: go by holiday color. Christmas = red, don't go in hives. Valentine's Day = red, don't go in hives. St. Patty's day = green, okay to open them up (for you know, short periods like plopping feed in there or peeking at them).


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## Bob J

NHCOR said:


> Just want to start by saying I really enjoy reading this thread, and it's great to see what is going on with other local (I'm in central NH) beekeepers. This is my first year with bees and I've found it to be pretty enjoyable learning experience. I do have a question about bee temperament as you've been adding sugar blocks or fondant to hives; how aggressive have your bees been? I added a feeding shim during the warm up about a week and a half ago and the bees had broken cluster and were pretty aggressively head butting, and I opened the lid yesterday to see how much food they had taken down (and add more food if needed last warm day for a while) and they were really aggressive had to go grab the smoker just to be the inner cover sealed again. Just wondering if it's the time of year or just a mean batch of bees I did re-queen this hive in the middle of last year and the bees have been grumpy a couple times but never this bad.


Completely normal for them to be defensive this time of year. Hive is very vulnerable as they are at a period of significant turn over... Queen is pushing the envelope for the first brood cycle and most of the workers are the old winter bees pressed into service to care for brood as well as to defend the hive... This will be the case until they get at least two solid brood cycles out and the worker mix (young vs old) becomes more balanced....


----------



## NHCOR

Thanks for the feedback! Now we just have to wait for spring to make a come back.


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## BadBeeKeeper

nediver said:


> Carni and Russians might still be sleeping...


Oh, heck no. Mine are sending out scouts just about any time the temperature gets a little above 15 degrees. At that temperature, they don't usually get more than 200 yards from the hives, but they are flying. At the first sign of maple/aspen/alder bud, they are on it like Musca domestica on fecal matter.


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## nediver

BadBeeKeeper said:


> like Musca domestica on fecal matter.


Had to look that up. Lol.

I meant brood wise. My experience is they wait till maple to explode. Yours might be different. I am bringing Carni back in my yard. They were good bees and I want to mix them back in.


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## camero7

I took this from Bee-L this morning since it says my thoughts on pollen patties and early buildup quite nicely:

"The early spring (or winter warm days) that have happened in the eastern US is a perfect storm for bee kills here in the north. Here in Maine we usually get a January (or February ) thaw which is great for the bees as they can go out and poop. But the warmth also triggers, if it has not already started (mostly dependant on the bees race), queen laying. Most here know that about 1/3 of winter stores are consumed from nectar shut down until early/mid February and 2/3 from then to first nectar (early
April) so the combination of early brood and food consumption coupled with cold snaps leads to colony deaths from starvation. I had that happen when I first started keeping bees- alive and vigorous colony in late March and dead in early April (had to go south for a week). They stay with the brood even though there was abundant honey a few inches away.

The lesson learned was to put feed, in my current case- a sugar feeder/candy board - directly over the brood nest. Before I put (boiled to soft stage) candy directly over them but the sugar feeder is easier."


----------



## Cuttingedgelandinc

camero7 said:


> I took this from Bee-L this morning since it says my thoughts on pollen patties and early buildup quite nicely:
> 
> "The early spring (or winter warm days) that have happened in the eastern US is a perfect storm for bee kills here in the north. Here in Maine we usually get a January (or February ) thaw which is great for the bees as they can go out and poop. But the warmth also triggers, if it has not already started (mostly dependant on the bees race), queen laying. Most here know that about 1/3 of winter stores are consumed from nectar shut down until early/mid February and 2/3 from then to first nectar (early
> April) so the combination of early brood and food consumption coupled with cold snaps leads to colony deaths from starvation. I had that happen when I first started keeping bees- alive and vigorous colony in late March and dead in early April (had to go south for a week). They stay with the brood even though there was abundant honey a few inches away.
> 
> The lesson learned was to put feed, in my current case- a sugar feeder/candy board - directly over the brood nest. Before I put (boiled to soft stage) candy directly over them but the sugar feeder is easier."


Approximately when do you recommend adding pollen patties or substitute for early buildup? I was thinking if maybe trying (weather dependent) in about two weeks. My thought is that I would like to get 1-3 brood hatches before the natural flow. Mine all have lots of candy directly on the top bars and most seem to have a lot of stores left as well.


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## camero7

I put mine on about 2 weeks before dandelions, which comes about the middle of April, so they go on around April 1. Lots of disagreement about this but that has worked best for me. I still get buildup during dandelions and am ready for the flow.


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## squarepeg

cam, you mentioned sending samples off for virology studies a while back. did you end up doing that and if so did you get the results?


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## camero7

NO, sent them and they were returned. Must have had a bad address. When it warms up enough to go out I'll try to find some and send them. There weren't that many bees in the hives left.


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## squarepeg

understood cam, thanks for the reply. i also caught your post that your losses weren't as high as you first thought, that's great news.


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## Bob J

Last week was a roller coaster with most of the week warm and the weekend back into the freezer. Nighttime lows ranged from 12 to 50F and daytime highs from 23 to 63F. 4 days were above 50F. Rainfall for the month (Mar) is 0.02" and YTD is 4.43". No snowfall last week. 

Checked fondant and pollen patties Sunday and only had to replace some fondant on a few hives. Most hives are clustered right at the top and it was good to see that they seem to be holding up to the cold spell pretty well. Lots of uncappings on the bottom board as well as some yellow and orange pollen. 

The deep freeze this weekend will do a number on the flowering plants/trees... Will have to wait for the thaw tomorrow to assess how much but it's a pretty sure bet that the crocus, snowdrops etc will be pretty solidly hit so expect very little pollen to be available until the next wave of flowing plants/trees come in....


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## clyderoad

Bob- that 2 day ice box weather didn't hurt the trees at all. 42* here today and tree pollens coming in like the freeze never happened.


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## Bob J

clyderoad said:


> Bob- that 2 day ice box weather didn't hurt the trees at all. 42* here today and tree pollens coming in like the freeze never happened.


Thanks! That is really good to know.... I had a number of flowers up and they now are all a wilted mess.... Good to know the girls still have the trees! ;- )


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## clyderoad

the soft plant flowers really took a hit. at least we enjoyed the crocus blooms for a week
elm trees are looking like a few warm days and they are going to be at peak.


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## NewbeeInNH

Well, I guess that's one good thing about living in the top of the freezer, no flowers emerged to get freezed out.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Well, I guess that's one good thing about living in the top of the freezer, no flowers emerged to get freezed out.


So true.... I should have known better living here in new England! Just when I thought we were going to have an early spring!

At least the hives looked like they were ok.... This is exactly the weather swing that can catch the cluster locked up on the brood and starved out... So far so good and fingers crossed for the next few weeks....;- )


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## NewbeeInNH

I'm consistently seeing 3 colonies flying around in warmer spells, so that's good. All 3 look strong. From those "survivors" I hope to create another few hives and queens, we'll see.

We have another brutal bout of weather coming this weekend - Sat. will be high of 14F and low of 2F. It's not the -10 we had last March thank goodness, but I'm still worried about the fruit trees. The local peach farm had no peaches last year due to the spring frost and I'd hate to see that happen again. Any reports from other nearby areas?


----------



## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> I'm consistently seeing 3 colonies flying around in warmer spells, so that's good. All 3 look strong. From those "survivors" I hope to create another few hives and queens, we'll see.
> 
> We have another brutal bout of weather coming this weekend - Sat. will be high of 14F and low of 2F. It's not the -10 we had last March thank goodness, but I'm still worried about the fruit trees. The local peach farm had no peaches last year due to the spring frost and I'd hate to see that happen again. Any reports from other nearby areas?


I know what you mean..... The good news is that none of the fruit trees in my yard have shown any signs of budding yet so hopefully they weren't fooled by the warm spell.... Keeping my fingers crossed!


----------



## Bob J

Got this from one of the local clubs I'm a member of....



> Israel Acute Paralysis Virus has been found in Massachusetts again. The last time was in the 2007/2008 winter. This particular virus had a huge impact on local honey bees. All colonies near marshaling yards were positive and died out. These studies were done with the University of
> Massachusetts Honey Bee Virus Laboratory. A FOIA request was been sent to our State Apiary program to request the location of the isolation of this virus.


No source cited but worth keeping an ear to the ground just in case.... Will post if the State Apiary Inspector confirms.....


----------



## NewbeeInNH

Interesting! Please keep us posted on that! I never heard of that one.


----------



## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Interesting! Please keep us posted on that! I never heard of that one.


Will do! 

Pretty good summary of the various bee virus epidemiology can be found here: honey-bee-viruses-the-deadly-varroa-mite-associates

I'm always a bit on the alert this time of year when the migratory guys come back from almonds.... The marshaling yards tend to be a great opportunity to spread these infections among co-located hives....


----------



## NewbeeInNH

Scary material.

We all know this but it never hurts to hear it again:

"Viruses persist in normal, healthy colonies, only to explode during times of stress. Many viruses are only damaging when in combination with another stressor like Varroa or Nosema. Active, integrated management of Varroa and other stressors is essential to minimizing virus titers."


----------



## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Scary material.
> 
> We all know this but it never hurts to hear it again:
> 
> "Viruses persist in normal, healthy colonies, only to explode during times of stress. Many viruses are only damaging when in combination with another stressor like Varroa or Nosema. Active, integrated management of Varroa and other stressors is essential to minimizing virus titers."


Very true.... Also a lot of good work going on that links outbreaks to poor nutrition, particularly associated with the availability of local pollen... Really makes sense if you think about it.... We all know that a healthy diet is a always key aspect of staying healthy.... Doug Somerville's great work on the subject "Fat Bees Skinny Bees - a manual on honey bee nutrition for beekeepers" is worth a look if you get a chance....

Fat Bees Skinny Bees - a manual on honey bee nutrition for beekeepers


----------



## Cloverdale

NewbeeInNH said:


> I'm consistently seeing 3 colonies flying around in warmer spells, so that's good. All 3 look strong. From those "survivors" I hope to create another few hives and queens, we'll see.
> 
> We have another brutal bout of weather coming this weekend - Sat. will be high of 14F and low of 2F. It's not the -10 we had last March thank goodness, but I'm still worried about the fruit trees. The local peach farm had no peaches last year due to the spring frost and I'd hate to see that happen again. Any reports from other nearby areas?


Hi Newbie, I am in the western Catskills NY; our area here has not shown any early budding, but the Cooperstown area has. I am keeping my fingers crossed, too; last year no apples or pears. My hives are flying on the warmer days, I started putting out dry pollen on thosedays and keep water there too.


----------



## NewbeeInNH

That's what I've been suspecting, that the low nectar issues stressed my bees to the point of making them susceptible to the viral issues in a way that they haven't been in the five years I've been keeping bees. This summer I will be keeping a closer eye on their food stores especially if weather patterns stay unfriendly.


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## NHCOR

Looks like winter is returning its suppose to be below zero overnight this weekend up my way. And we may not get into the 30's again till Friday. This weather makes March feel like the longest month of the year! At least we get an extra hour of daylight in the evening starting this weekend.


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## camero7

NHCOR said:


> Looks like winter is returning its suppose to be below zero overnight this weekend up my way. And we may not get into the 30's again till Friday. This weather makes March feel like the longest month of the year! At least we get an extra hour of daylight in the evening starting this weekend.


Which is exactly why I discourage beekeepers from putting patties on so early. There will be some pinned bees to brood and frozen.


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## NHCOR

camero7 said:


> Which is exactly why I discourage beekeepers from putting patties on so early. There will be some pinned bees to brood and frozen.


Luckily I haven't put any pollen patties on yet and at this point I'm just going to wait till April before I add them. The first half of March has been a roller coaster weather wise, but hopefully the second half will be a bit more stable and warm up gradually


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## NewbeeInNH

One would hope. 8-12" forecasted for Tuesday and I'm losing faith.


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## NHCOR

NewbeeInNH said:


> One would hope. 8-12" forecasted for Tuesday and I'm losing faith.


oh man I missed that when I looked at the forecast! Now I'm really depressed.


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## NewbeeInNH

Oops! Sorry. Maybe they're wrong.


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## Cuttingedgelandinc

NHCOR said:


> Luckily I haven't put any pollen patties on yet and at this point I'm just going to wait till April before I add them. The first half of March has been a roller coaster weather wise, but hopefully the second half will be a bit more stable and warm up gradually


I'm in the same camp. I am going to wait! The weather this time of year can be very fickle.
I would love to time it right and get two to three brood cycles before the spring flow. I am looking for quick build up this spring as I am going to be making a lot of splits this season.


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## Bob J

Heard back from the Mass Chief Apiary Inspector on the reported IAPV outbreak:



> Hi Bob,
> To answer your question: IAPV was detected as part of bee samples taken from colonies in Worcester and Harwich. Please note that not all the bees from these samples were found to be infected with IAPV.
> 
> A little background on IAPV. It was discovered in Israel in 2004 and prematurely and wrongly thought to be a major cause of CCD (Cox-Foster et al., 2007). The virus may infect all stages and castes of honey bees. The parasitic mite, Varroa destructor, is an active vector of this virus as well as many others, thus the best method to prevent associated infections is to create an intensive IPM program for Varroa mite control in all honey bee colonies within an apiary. The effects of IAPV include progressive paralysis, weakening and death. This mainly occurs in colonies during the Summer/Fall when the Varroa mite levels are at their peak along with the colony population (brood) levels. In addition to feeding from Varroa mites, IAPV is also transmitted vertically from the queen to progeny. Given this, you could also consider re-queening a colony immediately if you suspect infection of this virus.
> 
> The best method to combat IAPV (and foster overall healthy honey bees) is to practice good husbandry and best management practices (see the Mass Beekeepers document for more info: http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/agr/programs/bmp/bee-bmps.pdf) and perform IPM protocols to manage for Varroa mites. I have attached a brochure that we created to assist beekeepers in making good decisions about Varroa mite control. Please review and consider sampling your colony monthly to determine your mite level and then consider the available treatment options for further action.


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## camero7

Thanks Bob, could be the reason so many hives died in NE. Weakened by the virus, mite bombs and gone


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## NewbeeInNH

Bob J said:


> Heard back from the Mass Chief Apiary Inspector on the reported IAPV outbreak:


Okay, so how common is this virus, and should we all be concerned if it was found in your yards? I'm wondering how significant this finding is.


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## Spark

NHCOR said:


> Luckily I haven't put any pollen patties on yet and at this point I'm just going to wait till April before I add them. The first half of March has been a roller coaster weather wise, but hopefully the second half will be a bit more stable and warm up gradually


Actually depending on your locale bad advice. Being in Maine probably OK but by April here in MA pollen is too prevalent by that time and the pollen patties will only feed the SHB.


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## NHCOR

I haven't observed any pollen coming in yet I'm in central NH (Gilmanton). Im not trying to give any advice Im a first year beekeeper just stating what I'm up to. Thanks for the info I'm on here to learn and share what I'm experiencing.


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## clyderoad

Spark said:


> Actually depending on your locale bad advice. Being in Maine probably OK but by April here in MA pollen is too prevalent by that time and the pollen patties will only feed the SHB.


they'll take them during adverse spring weather conditions when they can't fly and during the night time hours. they are perfect supplements during early erratic spring weather. a week of rain or cool temps and a patty will be gone.
I don't see it as bad advice at all.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Okay, so how common is this virus, and should we all be concerned if it was found in your yards? I'm wondering how significant this finding is.


Not that common but certainly worth keeping an eye out for symptoms.... Dead and lethargic bees in front of the hive are the most obvious.... Some bees could be black and hairless... If you see symptoms I would send samples for testing... As Kim mentioned the primary vector is varroa so if you keep them under control you should be ok...


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## camero7

clyderoad said:


> they'll take them during adverse spring weather conditions when they can't fly and during the night time hours. they are perfect supplements during early erratic spring weather. a week of rain or cool temps and a patty will be gone.
> I don't see it as bad advice at all.


I agree


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## BadBeeKeeper

NHCOR said:


> At least we get an extra hour of daylight...


Old ***** say "Only white man cut a foot off top of blanket, sew it on bottom of blanket, and claim he got a longer blanket."


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## kaizen

NHCOR said:


> I haven't observed any pollen coming in yet I'm in central NH (Gilmanton). Im not trying to give any advice Im a first year beekeeper just stating what I'm up to. Thanks for the info I'm on here to learn and share what I'm experiencing.


 its going to be interesting to see what your area is like. a few of us in southern nh seem to experience the same swath of things but i'm betting you'll be vastly different at the foot of the mountains.


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## NHCOR

Oh sure cut the part off that said in the evening!! It is funny how much longer it makes the day.


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## kaizen

Spark said:


> Actually depending on your locale bad advice. Being in Maine probably OK but by April here in MA pollen is too prevalent by that time and the pollen patties will only feed the SHB.


you have a problem with shb in ma??


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## Bob J

kaizen said:


> you have a problem with shb in ma??


I lost 2 strong hives to SHB.... This year will be trying the neverwet shim to see if I can slow them down...

Small Hive Beetle Excluder


----------



## Spark

kaizen said:


> you have a problem with shb in ma??


You will if you feed them. There is no need to feed pollen patties in April here given the amount of pollen being brought. Even if there are a couple days of bad weather at the rate they pack it in the pollen patties are useless unless you like to have an SHB farm. Clyde is wrong.


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## clyderoad

Spark said:


> You will if you feed them. There is no need to feed pollen patties in April here given the amount of pollen being brought. Even if there are a couple days of bad weather at the rate they pack it in the pollen patties are useless unless you like to have an SHB farm. Clyde is wrong.


Maybe, but I don't think so. If patties give you shb problems in MA in April the hive is too big for the colony or your putting too much patty in at one time.

When do shb even show themselves in your location? April seems early, no?


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## kaizen

I had some beetles last year but not shb. think because too big of an area and not enough bees. they were just hanging out. 2 years I haven't seen any sign of shb yet thankfully.


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## camero7

I'm with Clyde... I see an occasional shb but I think the patties, put on at the right time are very helpful to the colony. I also believe that all packages/nucs should be fed and have patties on them. We often have several days in a row when there is no flight - cold, rain, etc. The hives benefit from the patties those days. Allen Dick has often state that patties, any time of the year, will boost a colony.


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## Bob J

Weather continued to be volatile last week with temperatures well below the norm. Nighttime lows ranged from 12 to 47F and daytime highs from 24 to 57F. 2 days were above 50F. Rainfall for the month (Mar) is 0.13" and YTD is 4.54". 1" snowfall last week. 

Big storm tomorrow with 12"+ of snow expected in my area and high winds (50mph +). Will make a round of the yards this afternoon and make sure everything is tied down and secure.


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## clyderoad

Lets hope this is winters last gasp! Maple blooms are sitting there on the trees just ready for a bee to show up, maybe next week if it warms up to flying temps. Some elms are showing flowers too.
Got out last week to look things over so all should be secure for my hives tomorrow. 50-60 mph winds blowing snow can move them around a bit on the stands if ice gets under the Bottom board rails for sure. One of these days I'll tie the stand rails together with some cross members to double as stops but I've been saying that for a good long while now and still haven't done it.
Crab apple buds are swelling and ornamental plums are showing some pink under the bud covers.
Can only hope this event is short lived, I wouldn't mind if it's all rain at this point!


----------



## Bob J

clyderoad said:


> Lets hope this is winters last gasp! Maple blooms are sitting there on the trees just ready for a bee to show up, maybe next week if it warms up to flying temps. Some elms are showing flowers too.
> Got out last week to look things over so all should be secure for my hives tomorrow. 50-60 mph winds blowing snow can move them around a bit on the stands if ice gets under the Bottom board rails for sure. One of these days I'll tie the stand rails together with some cross members to double as stops but I've been saying that for a good long while now and still haven't done it.
> Crab apple buds are swelling and ornamental plums are showing some pink under the bud covers.
> Can only hope this event is short lived, I wouldn't mind if it's all rain at this point!


I'm with you.... Much of last week was flirting with all time record lows and this week WU predictions don't show any highs out of the 30's and most of the nights in the teens... With the hives brooding, this will certainly be tough on everyone....


----------



## kaizen

looking at weather.com I don't have any flying days before april. not a good way to start off the year


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## clyderoad

Yes, brooding hives with no flying weather and they get light fast. A dozen or so of mine felt light and next trip out to them I'll be carrying some
sugar and shims with me.
What has your hive scale been showing with regards to weight loss?


----------



## Bob J

clyderoad said:


> Yes, brooding hives with no flying weather and they get light fast. A dozen or so of mine felt light and next trip out to them I'll be carrying some
> sugar and shims with me.
> What has your hive scale been showing with regards to weight loss?


Average weight loss right now is running around 5# per week.... Roughly double what I was seeing a month ago...


----------



## NewbeeInNH

Dadgummit, I snowshoed out to the chicken coop, passed the bee yard, and one of my only 3 living hives had the top flipped off from the wind last night. Fortunately there is an inner cover on there, and under that the empty box with just the sugar brick and the shavings pillow on top, I hope that was enough to shield the cluster from that strong, cold, blizzardy wind last night.

Naturally the nine empty hives out there didn't have their covers blown off. It had to be one of the 3 strong still alive ones.

Well, let's hope that's the last of the snow because I just dropped another hundred bucks on the plow guy.

I mean, really. There have been better days than this.


----------



## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Dadgummit, I snowshoed out to the chicken coop, passed the bee yard, and one of my only 3 living hives had the top flipped off from the wind last night. Fortunately there is an inner cover on there, and under that the empty box with just the sugar brick and the shavings pillow on top, I hope that was enough to shield the cluster from that strong, cold, blizzardy wind last night.
> 
> Naturally the nine empty hives out there didn't have their covers blown off. It had to be one of the 3 strong ones.
> 
> Well, let's hope that's the last of the snow because I just dropped another hundred bucks on the plow guy.
> 
> I mean, really. There have been better days than this.


Sorry to hear this.... Hopefully they will be ok...

Storm wasn't too bad where we are.... Quincy got 7.2", Weymouth 7.0", Marshfield 4.1" and Needham 9.3"... Lots of difference depending on which yard you were in... Wind was tough but it looks like everything made it through intact... Weather report for the weekend is the possibility for more snow.... Looks like March came in like a lamb and is going out like a lion....


----------



## clyderoad

NewbeeInNH said:


> Dadgummit, I snowshoed out to the chicken coop, passed the bee yard, and one of my only 3 living hives had the top flipped off from the wind last night. Fortunately there is an inner cover on there


I fear you will not be the only one to have covers blown off.
I'm heading out to 'try' and get into the 3 yards where I haven't heard from the farmers yet. No snow to worry about here but it's likely
the roads in are blocked by downed trees. 
If they are blown over, good bye bees. If the homasote stayed on they have a chance, we'll see.
70 mph winds can do strange things to stationary objects! 
One winter I'll wake up and run a strap around each one when I check them before Christmas. The straps are cheap enough so that's not the issue, I am.


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## Cloverdale

We have 3 feet of snow here in the Catskills. No wind though.


----------



## camero7

We had about a foot, but the blizzard for about 6 hours was nerve wracking... so glad I didn't take those winter covers off. probably saved some hives.


----------



## camero7

Just back from my yards... two yards fine, nuc yard a disaster, wraps blown off, nucs scattered and apart and full of snow. May have one survivor. This has been a winter from hell, disease and now this. discouraging. Those nucs were well wrapped, wraps screwed to pallets and yet they blew away. Blizzard was worse than I thought.


----------



## toekneepea

camero7 said:


> We had about a foot, but the blizzard for about 6 hours was nerve wracking... so glad I didn't take those winter covers off. probably saved some hives.


Some of the old timers in my club say that they don't remove insulation, wraps, et cetera until May 1st.

TP


----------



## NewbeeInNH

camero7 said:


> Just back from my yards... two yards fine, nuc yard a disaster, wraps blown off, nucs scattered and apart and full of snow. May have one survivor. This has been a winter from hell, disease and now this. discouraging. Those nucs were well wrapped, wraps screwed to pallets and yet they blew away. Blizzard was worse than I thought.


Wow, sorry to hear that. Amazing that the wind did that to your nucs when the wraps were screwed to the pallets!

Yeah, we've had our share of rough patches, really since last March I think, when it was double digit negatives 2 nights in a row here. Never got better after that. But hopefully it got it out of its system now and we'll get a break, a good dandelion season and a normal summer. If we have any bees left.


----------



## Cloverdale

camero7 said:


> Just back from my yards... two yards fine, nuc yard a disaster, wraps blown off, nucs scattered and apart and full of snow. May have one survivor. This has been a winter from hell, disease and now this. discouraging. Those nucs were well wrapped, wraps screwed to pallets and yet they blew away. Blizzard was worse than I thought.


That is too bad, but try not to get discouraged either. Easier said than done. I have a feeling this Spring will be a good one, with fruit blossoms and all the other great stuff our bees love.


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## Bob J

camero7 said:


> Just back from my yards... two yards fine, nuc yard a disaster, wraps blown off, nucs scattered and apart and full of snow. May have one survivor. This has been a winter from hell, disease and now this. discouraging. Those nucs were well wrapped, wraps screwed to pallets and yet they blew away. Blizzard was worse than I thought.


So sorry to hear this Cam.....:-(


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## wildbranch2007

I found this on the Worcester beekeepers site may be of interest to some.



> WINTER LOSSES and DEADOUTS -- HIVE INSPECTIONS ARE AVAILABLE
> The MA apiary inspection service is now available for post-mortems of winter losses. If you are interested in having an inspector check your dead hive, please submit an online inspection request here:
> MDAR Apiary Inspection Request Form
> 
> You can also call 617-626-1801 to request a visit from an inspector.


----------



## Bob J

First day of Spring! 

Unseasonably cold last week with temperatures well below the norm. Nighttime lows ranged from 16 to 33F and daytime highs from 29 to 43F. 0 days were above 50F. Rainfall for the month (Mar) is 1.30" and YTD is 5.71". 7.2" snowfall last week. 

Looks like all my surviving hives made it through this cold week. Roughly half are taking the pollen sub. Weather looking better this upcoming week with at least a couple of days 50+F and maybe 60+F this upcoming weekend!


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## NewbeeInNH

Don't know how it is where you all are, but wicked winds out there right now. It will be amazing if they survive this cold and windy wintery month.


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## Cloverdale

NewbeeInNH said:


> Don't know how it is where you all are, but wicked winds out there right now. It will be amazing if they survive this cold and windy wintery month.


Same here in western catskills ny. Very windy and COLD! I did see a few hives flying yesterday in the '40's. I put out some pollen which they were taking. In the coming days/week Spring us coming...now the snow has to melt; still have well over a foot left.


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## kaizen

checked my last big hive in my home yard in the good weather and found dead. down to a possible 4 in my outyards which i'll be checking for feed this weekend. I hate when i'm right. shopping for bees sucks. last year I bought bees and queens just to expand. now I just will be happy if I have more then one hive left.


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## Ramona

I'm in Texas,right now, working bees and making nucs. Heard from a bee friend who drives past my New Braintree location that a few of my hives were down and wires on my bear fence appeared to be clipped. He texted me photos and it looked like vandalism. I texted the farmer and got told about the wind which not only new the hives over but appeared to have snapped the wires (!). Two of the blown over hives were my survivors in that yard. New Braintree has been brutal this year. Thankful to have other locations.


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## NewbeeInNH

kaizen - I'm with you, if I have one left I'll be jumping for joy. Beekeeping keeps you humble.


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## VickyLynn

"Beekeeping keeps you humble." It certainly does, Newbee.

I have seven hives on a south facing hillside. The wind seems to blow over them, so they are somewhat protected. All were out flying the last warm day we had. I am waiting to put pollen in until the ten day forecast says we've got temperatures above the single digits at night. Maybe next week. It's thirteen degrees right now. Brrrr.


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## kaizen

NewbeeInNH said:


> kaizen - I'm with you, if I have one left I'll be jumping for joy. Beekeeping keeps you humble.


and poor.......


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## NHCOR

Well we got 4 or so inches of wet snow today and now it has switched over to rain. Still wishing for warmer weather!


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## Bob J

NHCOR said:


> Well we got 4 or so inches of wet snow today and now it has switched over to rain. Still wishing for warmer weather!


Next week is the last week of March.... Hopefully the end is in sight! ;-)


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## NHCOR

Bob J said:


> Next week is the last week of March.... Hopefully the end is in sight! ;-)


True it cant stay too cool for much longer. Before you know we'll probably talking about heat waves and drought conditions!


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## NewbeeInNH

It'll probably change overnight and throw us all for a loop.


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## nediver

55 today and lots of maple pollen coming in. I didn't inspect but looking at the trees I bet there is early nectar as well.


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## Bob J

Unseasonably cold again last week with 4 days of temperatures well below the norm. Nighttime lows ranged from 20 to 38F and daytime highs from 38 to 53F. 2 days were above 50F. Rainfall for the month (Mar) is 1.41" and YTD is 5.82". No measurable snowfall last week. 

Lost 2 hives last week. Both locked up on the brood with plenty of honey an inch or so away... Surviving hives continue to chew through their stores with plenty of uncappings and some fresh yellow pollen on the bottom board. Keeping my fingers crossed that I can get out of March without any further losses.


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## NewbeeInNH

I'm beginning to think beekeepers are martyrs for the cause.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> I'm beginning to think beekeepers are martyrs for the cause.


Agreed! Pretty depressing to get them this far and then lose them.... To make it worst I expected to lose hives that long cold spell we had but they made it through fine.... This last week temp wise wasn't that bad so it was an unpleasant surprise but I guess it was just the last straw....:-(


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## markus2

Beekeepers down south (where it doesn't freeze) don't know how good they have it!

Northerner’s must lose a significant percentage of their hives just because of the freezing temperatures.


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## clyderoad

markus2 said:


> Beekeepers down south (where it doesn't freeze) don't know how good they have it!
> 
> Northerner’s must lose a significant percentage of their hives just because of the freezing temperatures.


The guys down south have there own set of problems to deal with and you probably don't want them.


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## NewbeeInNH

I dunno. At this point I might.

Edit: Wunderground is predicting 5-8" of snow Friday night. So change that to: At this point I do want the problems in the south. It's got to be easier than this.


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## Bob J

Hopefully April will be kinder than March was......:-(


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## clyderoad

NewbeeInNH said:


> I dunno. At this point I might.
> 
> Edit: Wunderground is predicting 5-8" of snow Friday night. So change that to: At this point I do want the problems in the south. It's got to be easier than this.


Easier? hahaha. That's a good one.

Most everyone gets a little itchy leading into spring, nuttin new there. Is snow April 1 an oddity there?
We can complain all we want about the weather and it will not matter, what will matter is what you
do going forward. What's your plan?


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## NHCOR

I broke down and put some pollen patties on this past Sunday. The extended forecast is looking better aside from the predicted snow on this Fri - Sat highs next week up my way should be close to 50 and lows around or just below the freezing mark. Spring package bees will be arriving on April 8th so hopefully the snow is gone by then!


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## Scitfrostbite

Yes, funky cool and rainy pattern for 7-10 days in Metrowest. Potential for plowsble snow north of pike this weekend, heck I'm gonna go skiing on Saturday.

At some point if they can't fly isn't it going to be necessary to feed some 1:1? Then I got to be extra careful not to "over feed" and make the cooped up hive syrup bound because then swarminess follows. Are people considering syrup anytime soon?


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## NewbeeInNH

My hives should still be well supplied with sugar bricks, altho it's been too cold to go in there and check. First 50F day I'm checking.


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## kaizen

Scitfrostbite said:


> Yes, funky cool and rainy pattern for 7-10 days in Metrowest. Potential for plowsble snow north of pike this weekend, heck I'm gonna go skiing on Saturday.
> 
> At some point if they can't fly isn't it going to be necessary to feed some 1:1? Then I got to be extra careful not to "over feed" and make the cooped up hive syrup bound because then swarminess follows. Are people considering syrup anytime soon?


They won't take the syrup at these temps. has to be 70s. I tried to get them to take more in cold weather last fall with little aquarium heaters. didn't work as they didn't break the ball


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## markus2

It seems a little too early for syrup in my neck of the woods.


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## Scitfrostbite

I agree right now is too early. In my experience there are ways to get syrup in them way before 70 degree days like using feeders inside the hives, etc. Some people don't spring feeds at all. I fed too much last yr and got all syrup bound. When do people around here who do spring feed begin and about how much?


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## NewbeeInNH

I don't spring feed at all. Once the dandelions pop they'll be good to go. That SHOULD be happening in a few weeks.


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## nediver

kaizen said:


> They won't take the syrup at these temps. has to be 70s. I tried to get them to take more in cold weather last fall with little aquarium heaters. didn't work as they didn't break the ball


Not to sound contrary, but I am currently feeding 4 hives heavy syrup. They take it fine. Fed a half gallon each in last 4 days all of which were rain in our area. Night temps in 30-40 and days 50-55 rainy. I started in late Feb when it was way colder. 

Moisture management is really important. 

The cluster is warm if you can get feed close to them. 

I wouldn't feed 1:1 this time of year. 

I've had the same problem in fall when I started feeding late, but the problem is typically not the temps. This would seem evident by the fact you used aquarium feeders. Bees knowing winter is coming and no time to evap moisture vs spring is coming and we need to brood.


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## clyderoad

too cold here for syrup. 
if I were to feed syrup in the spring I'd choose to feed 1:1 syrup, light syrup like a minor nectar flow. I want them to use it, for themselves and for feeding brood, not to store it.


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## Cloverdale

When .I would get early packages/nucs I would feed warm syrup in gallon ziplock baggies, it worked very well. Sit the baggies right on the bars.


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## clyderoad

Cloverdale said:


> When .I would get early packages/nucs I would feed warm syrup in gallon ziplock baggies, it worked very well. Sit the baggies right on the bars.


If they are out the back door that's fine, if they in outyards too much trouble. I save the zipocks for leftovers and use frame feeders.


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## kaizen

nediver said:


> Not to sound contrary, but I am currently feeding 4 hives heavy syrup. They take it fine. Fed a half gallon each in last 4 days all of which were rain in our area. Night temps in 30-40 and days 50-55 rainy. I started in late Feb when it was way colder.
> 
> Moisture management is really important.
> 
> The cluster is warm if you can get feed close to them.
> 
> I wouldn't feed 1:1 this time of year.
> 
> I've had the same problem in fall when I started feeding late, but the problem is typically not the temps. This would seem evident by the fact you used aquarium feeders. Bees knowing winter is coming and no time to evap moisture vs spring is coming and we need to brood.


if we were having 55 degree temps I might. we're not breaking 40 for a week, freezing at night and ten inches of snow in two days. We were talking 1-1.


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## Cloverdale

clyderoad said:


> If they are out the back door that's fine, if they in outyards too much trouble. I save the zipocks for leftovers and use frame feeders.


Agree with that. This is for home apiaries, not sideliners or commercials. It works well when it is still too cold to use a jar; they eat up the warm syrup!


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## NewbeeInNH

Just took a look in my hives since it's a fairly warm, and sunny, day. I have 3 clusters still alive which is what I found last time I went out there a month or so ago. No one needed more sugar bricks, so I put pollen patties in each.

Frustrated that it appears mice can access my nucs with the 1/2" hardware cloth tucked in the front entrance. That will not do for next winter. Do they not sell hardware cloth in 3/8" size? I have the 1/4" but figured that was too small. Front entrances on nuc sized boxes puzzles me.

Shavings pillows were dry. I put a brick on each hive since this storm is coming through.

Now, if they can just make it another 3 weeks, I promise to pamper them this summer. At first sign of lack they are getting syrup and pollen patty.


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## nediver

[/URL]


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## BadBeeKeeper

markus2 said:


> Beekeepers down south (where it doesn't freeze) don't know how good they have it!
> 
> *Northerner’s must lose a significant percentage of their hives just because of the freezing temperatures.*


Um, no, not if you take care of them properly.

I'll take the cold over wax moths, small hive beetles and AHB. Putting insulation rigs on is far easier than dealing with those critters.


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## Bob J

Will be putting a gallon of syrup on my hives this Sunday after the latest storm blows through.... I was taught that you should wait until temps are regularly above 50F and that looks to be the case where I am... Have not experimented with this but next year might be worth testing a few hives to see if they will take it earlier in the year... 

I feed with gallon paint cans shimmed up directly over the frames with a deep HB to protect it. I'm feeding 2:1 since I am not really interested in stimulating them as much as just making sure they have some additional stores in case we get an extended period of bad weather. Am also concerned about introducing too much moisture.


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## NewbeeInNH

Bob, are those gallon paint cans metal? I've never quite figured out how to do an empty gallon paint can. Do you poke holes in the lid and then turn it upside down like a glass jar feeder? Poke holes in the bottom and fill from the top?


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Bob, are those gallon paint cans metal? I've never quite figured out how to do an empty gallon paint can. Do you poke holes in the lid and then turn it upside down like a glass jar feeder? Poke holes in the bottom and fill from the top?


Metal paint cans epoxy lined. Tried just about every other feeder and found nothing comes close to the way these perform.  Hat tip to Mike Palmer for the idea.

- No drowned bees/ants/earwigs etc
- Keeps the syrup clean, particularly if you wash/sterilize with very hot water just before filling
- Easy to apply and take off (no spills, replace with a full can if empty)
- Convenient to put directly over the cluster (on 3/4" square stock shims) so the bees have direct access
- Easily scalable (up to 5 can be put on at a time if I need to build up to winter weight in the fall)


I put 5-6 tiny holes located near the center of the lid... I use a 4p nail but many others are successful with even smaller holes... You just don't want the holes too big or there is a chance they will leak.... 

Fill cans to roughly an inch from the top and put on lid. I use a rubber mallet to make sure the lid is on tight.

Place shims on the frames over the cluster. Invert the can away from the hive and wait until the can stops leaking (it's quick and you don't use much) and place on the shims. Cover with a deep (or two medium) hive bodies, replace the telescoping cover and you are done.

Easy peasy......;- )


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## NewbeeInNH

Thanks Bob that explains it better than I've heard before. Guess I can get those empty paint cans at Lowes. This method sounds a hundred times better than the quart jars (of course) or the top feeders (too many drowned bees and they're awkward to refill, plus they probably add a lot of moisture to the hive). Just a matter of shopping for the right cans.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Thanks Bob that explains it better than I've heard before. Guess I can get those empty paint cans at Lowes. This method sounds a hundred times better than the quart jars (of course) or the top feeders (too many drowned bees and they're awkward to refill, plus they probably add a lot of moisture to the hive). Just a matter of shopping for the right cans.


They really are pretty convenient and easy to use. I bought mine at home depot but I would imagine any good sized hardware store will stock them. Just be sure to get the ones that are epoxy lined. I had one can I bought by mistake that was not and it started to corrode after my first use probably due to the citric acid I add to my syrup blend.

The only downside I've seen is that you can't check visually to see how much syrup is left... You have to take off the telescoping cover and give them a little heft... Otherwise, as perfect a syrup feeding solution as I could have hoped for....

I like the size too... A gallon in a secure container is a good feed size for my girls.... Quarts just go too fast.....


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## markus2

NewbeeInNH said:


> Just took a look in my hives since it's a fairly warm, and sunny, day. I have 3 clusters still alive which is what I found last time I went out there a month or so ago. No one needed more sugar bricks, so I put pollen patties in each.
> 
> Frustrated that it appears mice can access my nucs with the 1/2" hardware cloth tucked in the front entrance. That will not do for next winter. Do they not sell hardware cloth in 3/8" size? I have the 1/4" but figured that was too small. Front entrances on nuc sized boxes puzzles me.
> 
> Shavings pillows were dry. I put a brick on each hive since this storm is coming through.
> 
> Now, if they can just make it another 3 weeks, I promise to pamper them this summer. At first sign of lack they are getting syrup and pollen patty.


I use the 1/4 inch hardware cloth but I manipulate it by cutting out certain pieces to make it slightly larger.


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## clyderoad

Bob J said:


> Will be putting a gallon of syrup on my hives this Sunday after the latest storm blows through.... I was taught that you should wait until temps are regularly above 50F and that looks to be the case where I am... Have not experimented with this but next year might be worth testing a few hives to see if they will take it earlier in the year...
> 
> I feed with gallon paint cans shimmed up directly over the frames with a deep HB to protect it. I'm feeding 2:1 since I am not really interested in stimulating them as much as just making sure they have some additional stores in case we get an extended period of bad weather. Am also concerned about introducing too much moisture.


Little worry about excess moisture in the Spring like over the winter. The bees are bringing in water now to thin any stored honey or cured syrup anyway- I say give them what they are going for anyway. To me the 1:1 is perfect in the spring.


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## markus2

BadBeeKeeper said:


> Um, no, not if you take care of them properly.
> 
> I'll take the cold over wax moths, small hive beetles and AHB. Putting insulation rigs on is far easier than dealing with those critters.


Agreed! I didn't take care of them properly. I need to ensure they go into winter as a stronger hive.


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## nediver

Bob J said:


> Metal paint cans epoxy lined. Tried just about every other feeder and found nothing comes close to the way these perform. Hat tip to Mike Palmer for the idea.
> 
> - No drowned bees/ants/earwigs etc
> - Keeps the syrup clean, particularly if you wash/sterilize with very hot water just before filling
> - Easy to apply and take off (no spills, replace with a full can if empty)
> - Convenient to put directly over the cluster (on 3/4" square stock shims) so the bees have direct access
> - Easily scalable (up to 5 can be put on at a time if I need to build up to winter weight in the fall)
> 
> 
> I put 5-6 tiny holes located near the center of the lid... I use a 4p nail but many others are successful with even smaller holes... You just don't want the holes too big or there is a chance they will leak....
> 
> Fill cans to roughly an inch from the top and put on lid. I use a rubber mallet to make sure the lid is on tight.
> 
> Place shims on the frames over the cluster. Invert the can away from the hive and wait until the can stops leaking (it's quick and you don't use much) and place on the shims. Cover with a deep (or two medium) hive bodies, replace the telescoping cover and you are done.
> 
> Easy peasy......;- )


I tried paint cans this year and could not be happier


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## Bob J

Wet and cool spring continues but a bit more seasonal last week. Nighttime lows ranged from 34 to 45F and daytime highs from 37 to 56F. 1 day was above 50F. Rainfall for the month (Apr) is 1.44" and YTD is 8.88". 2.1" snowfall last week. Was great to see the sun yesterday!

Real soaker of a storm for Friday/Saturday with frequent turns between snow and rain. Water table is up with standing water in several yards and more rain on tap for tomorrow. Am thinking the drought may be officially over with this last weather pattern. Put a gallon of 2:1 on all of my surviving hives and will see next week how well they take it. Bees were out and active yesterday but oddly no signs of pollen this week. May be related to the recent cold snap but hopefully will be a temporary condition. All colonies are now taking the pollen sub.

From the recent paint can feeding discussion thought a pic would be worth posting.... A few syrup cans/shims ready to go.....;- )


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## NewbeeInNH

Thanks for the photo!

I was thinking about the drought yesterday too and I looked up on the drought monitor, but in my area anyway, we're still labeled moderate drought. I was surprised. Granted, that's only thru March 28, before the last storm which has turned my driveway into almost unpassable mud.

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/mapsanddata/maparchive.aspx

My 3 hives were flying today so happy about that. With sugar bricks and pollen patties in there, they should be set. I see temps in the 60s for next week, so finally we can breathe easy again. Hooray for spring/summer!

Equinox has past, so the bees are in prime summer mode right now, until June 21 when they start winter prep. I expect hives will ramp up quickly now. If my nucs start to boil over, I'm thinking maybe 1st of May for some splits, which is one of the IPM strategies I use. Splits make me a little uneasy because it's a huge disruption to the colony at the most important time of the year, spring flow. Especially if they have to raise their own queen, they're knocked out for a while. But better than having them swarm, and it helps knock down mites. Pluses and minuses.


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## NHCOR

I saw the first pollen of the year coming in today, new package bees are coming this weekend, and temps are set to hit at least 60 and maybe 70 next week - thing are looking up!


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## camero7

Pollen coming in yesterday. This time in 2012 dandelions were in bloom. Looks like the pussy willows rebloomed again


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## Bob J

Just a reminder that swarm season is not that far off.... Since I have been tracking locally here the earliest reports have been the last week in April and the latest start is the second week of may.... Don't let it slip up on you.....


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## NewbeeInNH

So far it seems like we're having a very wet April. Last year I BELIEVE we had a dry April and a very wet May, so I'm hoping this will clear up by dandelions. Last spring in my hood we lost our dandelion season to rain and chilly temps. I think my problems started then, because I did not think to feed them during "spring flow" and I don't think they ever recuperated, especially since they then had a drought disrupting the fall flow. This spring if we have a rainy/chilly May, I'm putting syrup on the hives.

Next week it looks like we have a couple days in the mid 70s!!! But then the trend seems to get around 50F again. Those warm days will be good for seeing what's going on in the hives (not too long of a look, just a thorough glance) and cleaning out of the dead hives, maybe transferring some syrup frames into the live hives if it looks like they could use it.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> So far it seems like we're having a very wet April. Last year I BELIEVE we had a dry April and a very wet May, so I'm hoping this will clear up by dandelions. Last spring in my hood we lost our dandelion season to rain and chilly temps. I think my problems started then, because I did not think to feed them during "spring flow" and I don't think they ever recuperated, especially since they then had a drought disrupting the fall flow. This spring if we have a rainy/chilly May, I'm putting syrup on the hives.
> 
> Next week it looks like we have a couple days in the mid 70s!!! But then the trend seems to get around 50F again. Those warm days will be good for seeing what's going on in the hives (not too long of a look, just a thorough glance) and cleaning out of the dead hives, maybe transferring some syrup frames into the live hives if it looks like they could use it.


Sounds good! Also am looking forward to some warmer weather!

Nice thing about this thread is you can go back and look at where we were at this time last year and contrast.... For March rainfall we have 2016/2017 = 2.22"/1.41". For April we are starting off with a bang rain wise with 2016 (all month) at 2.46" and for 2017 getting 1.44" the first two days of the month! As of last weekend (calendar week 13) we have YTD 2016/2017 values of 8.43"/8.88" so it looks like so far we had a drier March and a (much) wetter (so far) April!


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## NewbeeInNH

This thread is great. I can't remember last week, let alone last year, so the reference is really helpful.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> This thread is great. I can't remember last week, let alone last year, so the reference is really helpful.


Really the benefit of these local condition blog threads.... Over time you can not only discuss/see local trends/conditions but you can also contrast for local YOY changes.... It's a data set that should only become more valuable as we move forward....

Built a "beekeepers calendar" to help out my mentees that am thinking might also be of interest along the same lines.... Obviously my opinion as to timing and location (Norfolk county MA) but may be of some help to others (with appropriate adjustments for location and local conditions of course). 









Note: Not sure why some of the blank cells ended up black when I converted it to a jpg... Hopefully its still of some benefit....


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## toekneepea

Oy, today's my birthday and I lost the second of my two hives AND I got an email from my nuc supplier in Vermont that he's wiped out and not supplying any nucs this year... realize it's really late, but if anyone has a source of overwintered [northern] nucs that are still selling please PM me.

Tony


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## NewbeeInNH

Tony, I don't know how desperate you are, but I see B-Line Apiaries in Hudson, NH still appears to have Italian packages available. Looks like about 1 hr. 15 min. from Boston. If you were willing to go Italian package, I'd contact him right away. Nice people, I've gotten packages there before.

http://www.b-lineapiaries.com/


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## Bob J

Unfortunately Tony I think anyone with overwintered nucs now has been sold out for a while.... Like Terrance has suggested, I would investigate either starting over with packages or spring nucs...... Unfortunately at this point in the season those are your best options....


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## Bob J

Nice warmup last week with much higher temps (80F!) predicted for this week. Nighttime lows ranged from 37 to 43F and daytime highs from 42 to 67F. 4 days above 50F. Rainfall for the month (Apr) is 2.92" and YTD is 10.36". No snowfall last week. 

Green and yellow pollen coming in. Several of my fruit trees (cherry, apple, peach) are at bud swell. Second wave of crocus are out.

Nice warm day yesterday and was able to hit all my yards. All hives are taking the syrup and pollen patties. Reversed brood chambers and replaced bottom boards with the neverwet hive beetle improved versions. Removed winter shims/mouse guards and installed screened inner cover (more hive beetle proofing). Was good to see orienting bees so it looks like turnover was successful and they are now in build up mode. May have seen a drone going into one of my strongest hives but the little bugger was quick so just got a glimpse.


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## NewbeeInNH

Last one out to the apiary Tuesday is a rotten egg!!

I think it's too early to reverse in my area yet, or even to take off mouseguards. I see highs in the 40s/lows in the 30s several days out still.


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## yukonjack

I'm not too far from you Newbie...I reversed yesterday...but this is only our second winter with bees so maybe I shouldn't have....


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## Bob J

So true that all beekeeping is local.....;- )

For me the tell was when it was clear that the hive turnover was complete and they had moved to spring build up mode... I don't want to disturb them too much until that has been completed as it's a particularly dangerous time for them... That and the warmer weather tells me that I now need to move fast to stay ahead of them... In build up mode they will need brood space so depending on where the current cluster is I either reverse or leave them as is... That gives them space to expand up as needed which am thinking is easier for them than expanding down..... This year it seems the clusters were all at the top so based on that I reversed... I'll leave the syrup on another week and then pull it.... At that point the hives should have an good established group of foragers and I need to be thinking about supering up just in case there is an early flow... Definitely don't want the syrup on them then.... Really the syrup was only to support them until they could get solidly past turnover.... Swarm traps will also go out next week... Where I am swarm season typically kicks off the first week in may which is only a couple of weeks away so I need to be ready.... I expect to see flying drones any time now....


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## Scitfrostbite

I am happy to hear you guys discussing reversal as it is on my mind right now.

After popping tops on Saturday I was thinking it's time for reversal on some hives and I was going back and forth on the whole too early/not too early thing. With the Metrowest ten day forecast showing upper 50+ highs for the next 8 days, I feel like it's time to reverse on the hives that seem to be getting congested at the top.

Dandelions poking through the turf, though no buds yet. Added qt jars of syrup to all hives for safe measure.


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## nediver

Have drones. Quite a bit. 

Pulling mousegaurds. 

Will be splitting and grafting next 2 weeks. 

I'm south of you guys though.


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## NewbeeInNH

Went into the 3 hives today, it's warm enough.

Put an extra box on all 3, took the shavings pillows out. So they have sugar bricks still in there, pollen patty still in there, and now an extra box with built up comb on top. That should hold em for a while. I didn't go into the frames to look around, I'll leave them alone for now. Populations looked healthy but not boiling over.

One of the deadout nucs that has been sitting out there with no mouseguard had a nice family of mice in it. I debated whether I should kick them out, I didn't want the tiny ones climbing into my live nuc, but in the end I figured they better get used to a new home so I brushed them out of there and put 1/2" hardware cloth on it for a mouseguard. My deadouts are sitting out there waiting for some nice swarms to move in.


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## yukonjack

The hive we reversed this weekend was our first hive - started from a package in 2015.
It has survived new bee-havers, a bear attack, last Fall's drought conditions, and a second winter (did I mention new bee-havers?).
They've overwintered in 3 mediums, and 100% of the bees were in the top box, and candy rim where we had put a couple of spring pollen patties.
Lots of bees.
We didn't inspect any frames, we just exchanged the top and bottom boxes (the middle stayed in the middle).
I was/am concerned that this being a 3rd year queen, that the Spring swam instinct would be higher, and with them all the way up on the top, we just kinda made the decision to reverse right then and there.
We were installing an early package into another hive, so we just kept working.

They didn't like it much though. I got tagged right at the end of the work yesterday in the hand. Today I walked back in to the yards just at noon to change out the watering can and got hit right smack on the tip of the nose. I look like I have a clown nose now.
One warning bump then blammo! They've been so gentle in the past, it didn't occur to me to put on headgear change an adjacent water can. 

Hopefully they'll settle down over the next couple days, and our early intervention doesn't cause too much trouble for them.


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## kaizen

4th flying weather day in a row today. Anybody seeing nectar coming in? **** out yards are too muddy to drive to so I have to haul in all my syrup. not fun and hoping some relief is on the way


----------



## Cloverdale

kaizen said:


> 4th flying weather day in a row today. Anybody seeing nectar coming in? **** out yards are too muddy to drive to so I have to haul in all my syrup. not fun and hoping some relief is on the way


I am in the Catskills of NY and when I examined my hives 3 days ago they had nectar new stored. Slow on the pollen.


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## Bob J

kaizen said:


> 4th flying weather day in a row today. Anybody seeing nectar coming in? **** out yards are too muddy to drive to so I have to haul in all my syrup. not fun and hoping some relief is on the way


No significant weight gain in my hives so if they are bringing nectar in its going to brood and not to stores... I do see lots of pollen coming in.... My apple and pear trees had leaf bud break yesterday and the peach tree is starting to show pink on the flower buds so we should not be far off, particularly if the weather continues as it has the last few days....


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## MaineMike

One more month to wait, it's been a long winter....

*Package Pickup Dates have been updated on 2/28/17*
Aspen Group: May 9-10
Maple Group: May 9-10
Willow Group: May 12-13

Following all your updates, hope to contribute to the discussion soon myself. In the meantime been building quilt boxes, insulating covers, double 1/2 gallon top feeders, sliding solid bottom boards for under the screened BBs, reinforcing stands... all busy work. Just need the bees now.

Mike


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## Scitfrostbite

Can a hive get syrup bound from winter sugar bricks? Just reversed double deep hives past weekend and one hive has a top deep that is 50lbs+ They ate a large 9x12x2" brick this winter. No nectar yet in Metrowest and I didn't feed any hives syrup. 

Can a hive get bound up from bricks? Does that happen? Thanks


----------



## kaizen

Scitfrostbite said:


> Can a hive get syrup bound from winter sugar bricks? Just reversed double deep hives past weekend and one hive has a top deep that is 50lbs+ They ate a large 9x12x2" brick this winter. No nectar yet in Metrowest and I didn't feed any hives syrup.
> 
> Can a hive get bound up from bricks? Does that happen? Thanks


I don't believe so. Didn't think they stored any sugar just ate it. Maybe they moved it around if its not capped. Or maybe they just bypassed it for the bricks.


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## kaizen

Good day in the yards today. Installed ten packages Sunday so had to go back in and make sure the queens were released, add syrup, add pollen sub. I am really impressed with these packages. Not only could I not get nucs but for the price of 5 nucs I got ten hives. Barely any drones or dead when I got them. They even sat in my kitchen for two days. Only one did not release their queen because it looks like a piece of cork broke off in the hole. They all took down about a gallon of 2-1 in 3 days. Tried zip lock baggies and although its more prep I like it. I installed 6 at one yard using the spray and shake method. Actually my first time with packages so I liked it less then them. At the second yard I installed 4 by just opening them, setting the queen, and putting the box in the hive. Today all 4 had no bees in them. easy peasey. in truth I needed to get them in the hives and I was exhausted but I tell ya its perfect. much less bees flying around confused. 
Funny how this hobby brings me from depressed cause I lost most of my hives to that feeling of success smelling the hive again and hearing the girls buzz.
oh.....almost forgot. ew gross moment. One of the dead outs I was installing into had a mouse. took out some frames and there she was with a baby hanging half out. poor thing was running all over the hive dragging the baby behind. I let them live for now being easter and all.


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## NewbeeInNH

kaizen said:


> I don't believe so. Didn't think they stored any sugar just ate it.


That's my impression too, but I don't know the science. I imagine it would take too much to hydrate the sugar brick to be able to store it.


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## NewbeeInNH

dup


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## NewbeeInNH

kaizen said:


> oh.....almost forgot. ew gross moment. One of the dead outs I was installing into had a mouse. took out some frames and there she was with a baby hanging half out. poor thing was running all over the hive dragging the baby behind. I let them live for now being easter and all.


LOL - Similar to my mouse story above, only I was a meanie and shooed them out of there. At least it was a hot day.


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## Bob J

Heads up.... First report from an experienced local beekeeper doing an inspection and seeing capped queen cells.... Anyone seeing drones flying yet?


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## Peter Montague

I haven't but have herd frome someone that they have drones flying already. I have seen capped drone cells.


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## Bob J

I contacted them and it looks like a supercedure and not a swarm.... Second one I've heard this week....


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## Bob J

Peter Montague said:


> I haven't but have herd frome someone that they have drones flying already. I have seen capped drone cells.


Thanks Peter.... I'm pretty much near the coast so somewhat early where I am but am thinking more inland may be there already....


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## Peter Montague

The report of drones I hade came from western mass. My hive have only a few frames of emerging workers and many uncapped, Im sure some of it is scattered with soon to be sealed drone brood.


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## scituatema

My strong colonies have drones from eggs , pupae to flying drones already. I live in South shore.


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## NewbeeInNH

When it was mid-80s a few days ago, I added a box to my 3 living small hives, took out the shavings pillow, checked the sugar bricks and pollen patties, but didn't go through the frames.

Sunday it's supposed to be a temperature swing to 80F again. So on Sunday I'm going to check frames in each of the hives and also check for brood space expansion needs. I may add yet another box, maybe of unbuilt comb on the top this time, as soon it will be prime comb-building time. After June 21st I believe, they don't tend to draw comb unless they really need it, so I think now is the time if you want comb frames built out.


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## kaizen

the girls were on pollen today for the first time at my home yard. They seemed happy to have a destination. ugly pollen. grey off white looking.


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## Scitfrostbite

First dandelions blooming today in Metrowest. After last year, not messing around, will be throwing on supers tomorrow and will be trying the trick of swapping out a couple of frames for foundation too.


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## Cloverdale

kaizen said:


> the girls were on pollen today for the first time at my home yard. They seemed happy to have a destination. ugly pollen. grey off white looking.


Might be skunk cabbage?


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## camero7

no dandis here yet. Bees busy with tree pollen and nectar


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## camero7

Bob J said:


> Heads up.... First report from an experienced local beekeeper doing an inspection and seeing capped queen cells.... Anyone seeing drones flying yet?



I've seen a couple in one of my hives. Only queen cells I've seen are superscedure cells in a package I installed a few days ago [I knocked it down].


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## NewbeeInNH

Went into my 3 hives today (wow was it hot!) and was surprised that even tho I saw 3 queens, I'm not seeing any brood yet. Guess they're still working off winter bees. I reversed boxes, made sure there was a built up but empty comb box on top of the queen's box and then a box filled with honey frames above that. Took out pollen patties because they weren't using them and have fresh, took out the sugar bricks. Made sure there was enough empty comb in the hives for expansion.

Wasps are out like crazy, making nests and multiplying. Why can't the bees be as resilient?

Now it's going back to chilly for a while. The next time I look in the hives I hope to see brood.


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## Michael Palmer

You reversed the brood chamber, but there wasn't any brood yet??


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## Cuttingedgelandinc

Michael Palmer said:


> You reversed the brood chamber, but there wasn't any brood yet??


I was going to ask that very same thing???
Seems early but I am a little further north!


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## NewbeeInNH

Oh. Well, the bees and queen were all in the 2nd box, so I just stuck them down on the bottom. There was a tiny bit of larvae, just not much.


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## Riskybizz

It's stays a little warmer for them up top.


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## Bob J

Warm last week (87F!) with more seasonable temps predicted for this week. Nighttime lows ranged from 42 to 46F and daytime highs from 56 to 87F. 7 days above 50F and 2 days above 80F. Rainfall for the month (Apr) is 2.92" and YTD is 10.36". 

Green and yellow pollen coming in all yards. Dandilions are out and both my peach and pear trees are blooming. Apple and cherry look to bloom within the next few days. Normally my apples bloom around mothers day so it looks like the bloom is several weeks early.

Took advantage of the warm weather to brood check and super up all my hives. One hive had EFB so reduced, treated and put the feeder can back on. Marked all the frames so I can make sure to track them. Brood patterns in the rest look good with 2-3 nicely built out frames of brood. Marshfield hives are starting to put on weight. White wax there and frames starting to fill with nectar. Swarm traps are out.


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## camero7

Wow, just a few miles and no dandelions and no fruit blossoms. Must be nice to live in the tropics


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## Bob J

Lol! I guess all beekeeping really is local! 😉


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## kaizen

camero7 said:


> Wow, just a few miles and no dandelions and no fruit blossoms. Must be nice to live in the tropics


ha up here in the frigid north I have blossoms popping on fruit.


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## Peter Montague

I am as if yeatetday seeing cherry and dandilion. Blue pollen in many of my Hives. Italian packages going gangbusters on the maple flow, hoping it lasts a few more days and the rain Friday doesn't interrupt it much.


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## Mefco

I want to split two booming overwintered hives with mated queens, high temps forecast in low 50s for this weekend where hives are, is that too cold to split?


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## kaizen

Mefco said:


> I want to split two booming overwintered hives with mated queens, high temps forecast in low 50s for this weekend where hives are, is that too cold to split?


Mef might want to post this on the forum in a new thread


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## kaizen

spring is definitely sprung. Bees are bringing in nectar and ignoring feed. lots of yellow pollen coming in. Had one bee so covered I thought it was a yellow jacket. bees on fruit trees and most likely maple. some dandelions blooming.


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## Bob J

Seasonal temps last week with several days of light rain. Nighttime lows ranged from 40 to 52F and daytime highs from 45 to 70F. 5 days above 50F. Rainfall for the month (Apr) is 3.44" and YTD is 10.88". 

Green and yellow pollen coming in all yards. Cherry is just starting to bloom and apple is close. PJM Rhododendrons bloomed early in the week. Peach and Pear are just about done. 

Flow signs now in all yards. This is a good two weeks earlier than last year. Installed 5 packages in two of my yards. Was hoping to avoid buying packages this year but my losses last fall pretty well put a stake in that plan. Also have 8 overwintered nucs on order which should bring me back up to fighting weight.


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## ProfessorBob

When will you folks start throwing on supers?


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## Bob J

ProfessorBob said:


> When will you folks start throwing on supers?


Mine went on my overwintered hives two weeks ago....


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## Scitfrostbite

Same, I added supers two weeks ago here in Metrowest. I checked them yesterday and found that all had some nectar and one super was very heavy so added super #2.


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## nediver

I'm so far behind. 

How do you guys suggest mixing in Comb with foundation when supering


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## Bob J

nediver said:


> I'm so far behind.
> 
> How do you guys suggest mixing in Comb with foundation when supering


I always put at least one built out comb in the center of the super to make sure they recognize the super as available space... If I need for them to build out foundation I usually checkerboard it with built out comb if available.... If not available I spray the frames with sugar water to draw the bees up.... Once they are up they build out fine if there is a supporting flow...


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## NewbeeInNH

Why aren't my dandelions out yet?????

Last year I posted that I saw the first dandelion on the 18th.

Today is April 28 and not one dandelion yet.


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## camero7

Patience grasshopper, just started here a few days ago. In 2015 they didn't bloom until 4/28 here. This is the normal time for them to pop out.


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## squarepeg

cam, sorry if you already posted and i missed it, but how did you make out in terms of overwinter survival?


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## camero7

Hi Sqaure,

This was the worst winter I've experienced since I got back into beekeeping. I lost 96% of my home yard, had 100% survival in another, smaller yard, and was doing ok in my nuc yard until the blizzard which blew all the hives over and filled them with snow. To my amazement one nuc survived. But all in all, about 80% loss. I thought about quitting because I can't figure out what caused the losses in my home yard. All four yards were treated the same, had similar attention, probably the best tended yard was my home yard. An analysis of the dead outs gave me few clues. No significant varroa scat. Hives were vaporized 4 times in August/Sept a week apart. I tend to think it was a virus. But anyway, I ordered packages and I'll see if I can't build back up. Another winter like this one and I'm hanging up my hive tool.


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## squarepeg

triple dang. sorry to hear about that cam, pretty sure i would feel the same way. did you end up sending off samples for virology tests? fingers crossed down here for you having much better 2017/2018 success.


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## camero7

Thanks for the kind words. Decided against sending them because there is no treatment besides keeping varroa down and good nutrition. I'm sure the bad drought we had last summer/fall impacted the pollen and that may be part of the problem, but that doesn't explain 100% survival in a yard about 10 miles from the home yard. Scratching my head.


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## squarepeg

yeah, that's an enigma wrapped in a mystery alright.


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## wildbranch2007

camero7 said:


> Hi Sqaure,
> 
> All four yards were treated the same, had similar attention, probably the best tended yard was my home yard. An analysis of the dead outs gave me few clues. No significant varroa scat. Hives were vaporized 4 times in August/Sept a week apart.


you had the same problem I had, you treated to early, or should have kept treating late. I know your yard is isolated, but all indications up here are mite bomb in our area. Hives that had 1-1.5 mites in sept, got overloaded with mites from other hives, wasn't seeing much mite scat because the queens had shut down to a small amount of brood. Doing OA on the surviving hives in Jan, saved some, the bottom boards were brown with mites even though they had low mite counts in Sept. sent out samples to BVS, came in low virus's, no nosema, high mites. Yards in the next county where we all treated about the same time, using the same chemicals had lower than normal losses. THe one thing that was "interesting" if you can call anything interesting, is full size hives died at about 80%, nucs in the same yards had less than 5% losses, but they still had high mite counts in Dec. even though they had low mite counts in sept.
If you read the article in bee culture by the lady from Washington DC about 3 months ago, titled mite bombs, she exactly described our hives up here, so it wasn't a local thing. other than that, pollen is coming in, and we expect a record nectar flow, for the few hives left. hang in there.


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## camero7

But why don't i see mite scat in the combs?


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## wildbranch2007

camero7 said:


> But why don't i see mite scat in the combs?


because the mites from the bombs came in after the queens were shutting down, I did see a small amount around the couple of frames that had the last of the capped brood. Randy said on bee-l when the mite count in a hive gets to 20% the hive is doomed, with the number on hives and wild hives around here that were crashing early not a hard number to get to. I treated twice in all my yards, why would yards surrounded by other hives all crash, yet yards 10 miles away, surrounded by hives that the beekeepers treated on the same schedule all survive, but the mite counts even in these hive were up but not any where near as high as the ones that crashed.
Another example, my buddy treated three times, and we pulled his honey late so his last treatment was middle/late oct. another guy I communicated with has hives right around my buddies, he treated twice. My buddy lost 30 out of 200, starved or drone layer mostly, normal losses. the other guy had a yard closer than we knew about until talking, he had 1 hive alive out of 40 and he did his normal mite treatments. 
Our head bee inspector says lack of pollen, my dead hives have just as much pollen as a normal year, then they say poor pollen quality, emailed Cornell pollen specialist, he said drought would affect quantity, not quality, Randy said on bee-l that he had seen a study that said the opposite. You didn't see DWV on you bees, right? , no one up here saw DWV on bees, the virus checks I saw and had said no high virus's, people speculate must be a new virus . how can I have a virus wipe out 80% of the full size hives, and leave the nucs alone, logic says to me no new virus. Although you did come up to Cornell, you didn't import any did you???:scratch:

The people that were isolated, or controlled their mites didn't have problems, the people that didn't control there mites got wiped out.

But the best example I can give you, one of the people at cornell with us, had a nuc treated with apivar in the spring, put them into full hives, treated with MAQS in aug. , did an oad on Nov 8, checked the mite levels a few day later, 1-2 mites. The commercial guy came in and picked up his skids of bees during the middle of the day, after she tested and before thanksgiving, all the neighbors were over complaining about the bees in there garages on there doors and houses thinking they were her's. Where do you think all those bees ended up, she went out and retested her hives, overloaded with mites, had to start doing oav, saved the hives. So I can have only one conclusion, mites and more mites.


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## camero7

> You didn't see DWV on you bees, right? , no one up here saw DWV on bees, the virus checks I saw and had said no high virus's, people speculate must be a new virus .


Correct, no DWV



> Although you did come up to Cornell, you didn't import any did you???:scratch:


Now you're going to blame me?



> So I can have only one conclusion, mites and more mites.


Good explanation. Hope you're right because I'm going to treat in late September this year instead of August. We'll see. But my nuc yard is close to another beekeeper who doesn't treat. And it's less than 2 miles from my home yard and none of those problems there. Maybe nucs don't get the mite bombs?


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## wildbranch2007

camero7 said:


> Correct, no DWV
> 
> Now you're going to blame me?


Up here they have blamed about every thing else, I figure you have broad shoulders, and you can take the pressure.


----------



## camero7

Sure, just blame me...:no:


----------



## Bob J

Unseasonably warm last week. Nighttime lows ranged from 46 to 62F and daytime highs from 53 to 82F. 7 days above 50F. 2 days of rain with rainfall for the month (Apr) at 4.57" and YTD at 12.01". 

Yellow pollen coming in all yards. Cherry and apple are blooming. PJM Rhododendrons are done. Peach and Pear are done. Dandelions are out just about everywhere.

Flow signs are gone. Not sure what was driving it but the new supers have some capped honey but no significant nectar being processed. Packages are doing well with signs of eggs in all and brooding temps (>90F) showing on the broodminders. One package has a queen that is a laying machine. All packages were installed with 2 built out combs in the center of the deep and plastic foundation for the rest. Queens were direct released and all got a pollen sub patty and a gallon can of 2:1. This queen had eggs and larva on 7 of the 10 frames after only a week! Most of the eggs were in cells that were only half built. While the other packages only had used a small amount of pollen sub this hive has blown through more than half of a full patty. This hive will be an interesting one to watch! EFB hive has turned around and now has a small clutch of good larva. 

Pulled in the last of my deadouts and am planning on extracting honey from them next weekend. Everything gets cleaned out and a fresh coat of paint in prep for the overwintered nucs that come in next weekend from one vendor and the following weekend from a second. Finished converting over the last of my screened bottom boards to the neverwet shim SHB barriers. Early returns on these has been very good. The one yard where I had several hives decimated by the buggers, I had converted over my overwintered colonies at the beginning of the season and the inspection this weekend found only a single beetle. Will be interesting to see how these perform later in the season... Also noticed in another yard where I have traditionally been plagued by black ants that the ants were all over the SBB insert but not a single ant in the hive... Again, early returns but so far so good....;- )


----------



## kaizen

Bob J said:


> Pulled in the last of my deadouts and am planning on extracting honey from them next weekend. Everything gets cleaned out and a fresh coat of paint in prep for the overwintered nucs that come in next weekend from one vendor and the following weekend from a second. Finished converting over the last of my screened bottom boards to the neverwet shim SHB barriers. Early returns on these has been very good. The one yard where I had several hives decimated by the buggers, I had converted over my overwintered colonies at the beginning of the season and the inspection this weekend found only a single beetle. Will be interesting to see how these perform later in the season... Also noticed in another yard where I have traditionally been plagued by black ants that the ants were all over the SBB insert but not a single ant in the hive... Again, early returns but so far so good....;- )


Glad to hear some real world observations. I've never had a problem with them but the packages I just got have them so i'll have to make sure I keep on top of them. With solid bottoms using the neverwet shim and shb inside how would they get out? Is that stuff supposed to be recoated yearly? I have found it hard to believe paint could stop such a hard thing


----------



## Bob J

kaizen said:


> Glad to hear some real world observations. I've never had a problem with them but the packages I just got have them so i'll have to make sure I keep on top of them. With solid bottoms using the neverwet shim and shb inside how would they get out? Is that stuff supposed to be recoated yearly? I have found it hard to believe paint could stop such a hard thing


I think the guy that originally developed this method used SHB traps to catch the beetles that came with the packages... My understanding is that the neverwet treatment is permanent but will have to see how it performs over time...


----------



## NewbeeInNH

Am I being a pessimist, or does this look like the same weather pattern as last May, when dandelions appeared but then it was so chilly and rainy that the flowers were closed most of the time and the spring flow was a bust? I'm looking at the 10 day forecast and I'm seeing rainclouds every day except Thursday and temps, here anyway, in the 50s. I believe my bees' problems started last spring with inadequate spring flow which went into a terrible summer drought and by fall they were too stressed to resist mites and then were overcome with virus. I have nothing to back that up except intuition, but it makes sense in my apiary. I'm hoping this is not a weather pattern trend.


----------



## kaizen

I've been watching every dandelion I see for signs of any honey bee. I'm convinced this "dandelion flow" is a joke played on new beekeepers cause for 3 years I haven't seen it. I'm hoping the dandelions keep blooming. there should be enough water so hoping they do something. I just put on ten gallons of feed this weekend anticipating the cold wet weather. Looks like i'll be mixing up some more soon as they are still taking it. Worse then feeding teenage boys


----------



## NewbeeInNH

I think that's smart to start with the feed. That was my first mistake last spring; not responding to the poor spring flow with feeding. My next mistake was not responding to the intense drought with feeding. They're supposed to be feeding us, not vice versa. But if you don't feed them, they die. I don't remember reading that some years, you're going to have to feed year-round.


----------



## markus2

As messed up as last year was... it was a banner year for honey production in my case. Although it was a terrible fall in my neck of the woods.


----------



## camero7

Seeing bees on the dandelions here. Packages are expanding nicely. I put several packages in deadouts from last winter... virus are supposed to die quickly so I'm hoping they will be ok. Couldn't pass up that drawn comb and honey for feed.


----------



## Scitfrostbite

Bees moving from trees to Rhodys, Dandelions, other shrubs, etc in Metrowest as far as I can see. Several booming hives showing a lot of capped drone, nectar in brood box, and a little testy. So I need to get in and manipulate frames/boxes fast but I am worried that weather is too cool right now. It does feel a little like last May.

Is it to cool right now to pull some nucs to relief congestion? Or split up nest with some added built out frames?


----------



## camero7

Should be good to go tomorrow, warmer with less wind. Over 60° is good, sunny and reasonably calm


----------



## MaineMike

Ive read that Rhododendron makes toxic honey.


----------



## nediver

camero7 said:


> Maybe nucs don't get the mite bombs?


I have been told by NUC producers that they typically don't suffer mites because of the prolific laying.


----------



## kaizen

nediver said:


> I have been told by NUC producers that they typically don't suffer mites because of the prolific laying.


find that hard to believe. maybe because they producers only have them for a few months after the queens start laying. if it is true we'd all be keeping nucs. I have lost nucs to mites in the fall just like hives if not treated.


----------



## kaizen

Scitfrostbite said:


> Bees moving from trees to Rhodys, Dandelions, other shrubs, etc in Metrowest as far as I can see. Several booming hives showing a lot of capped drone, nectar in brood box, and a little testy. So I need to get in and manipulate frames/boxes fast but I am worried that weather is too cool right now. It does feel a little like last May.


how long have your dandelions been blooming?


----------



## Scitfrostbite

kaizen said:


> how long have your dandelions been blooming?


Saw very first dandelions in my yard on April 14th.

From this afternoon-


----------



## Bob J

Another swarm reported yesterday in a local overwintered hive... We may be off and running....


----------



## Peter Montague

Our dandelion flow has been on for about a week. Lots of drones in the hives now.


----------



## camero7

same here, but bees are not on the dandelions much this year


----------



## Michael Palmer

Our dandelions are big fat buds at ground level. We need a flow, bad. Fed 100+ nucs on Monday. Cold rainy weather, and sleet the other night when we had to move a couple yards. Feed situation is getting tense in some apiaries. Light colonies have been fed, but they can't go on forever without a flow. Maybe after the middle of next week. We've been supering production yards in the bad weather, so we can deal with the nucs when the weather breaks. Transferred the first nuc apiary into 10 frame and shipping boxes today. First nice day in forever. Nice bees, but some light. A week of nice weather would help. Of course when it does break, it will surely hit the fan.


----------



## Cuttingedgelandinc

Michael Palmer said:


> Our dandelions are big fat buds at ground level. We need a flow, bad. Fed 100+ nucs on Monday. Cold rainy weather, and sleet the other night when we had to move a couple yards. Feed situation is getting tense in some apiaries. Light colonies have been fed, but they can't go on forever without a flow. Maybe after the middle of next week. We've been supering production yards in the bad weather, so we can deal with the nucs when the weather breaks. Transferred the first nuc apiary into 10 frame and shipping boxes today. First nice day in forever. Nice bees, but some light. A week of nice weather would help. Of course when it does break, it will surely hit the fan.


Our dandelions are the same. I actually had a few pop today. Some of my apple trees have leaves and with a week of nice weather, they too will bloom. It would be really nice to have better weather next week. Off topic question for you, when do you typically start grafting? Up here it is usually the end of May.


----------



## nediver

Apple and olive in bloom hear in southern CT. Lilac. Locust pushing leaves. Few sugar maples with blooms. No bees on crabapple or Apple yet. They barely worked cherry. I have seen them on dandelion and bringing in dandy pollen.

Been cold and windy. With a deluge of rain coming. I put feeders on for the monsoon coming.


----------



## Lauri

Finally, a marked change in weather patterns. Normal temps and weather now after the last 3 months of 40 +/- degree cold, wind and rain.
I hope this weather sticks. My first graft of the season, emerged yesterday. Mating flights around Sunday. Temps forecast to be high 60's and clear.
I don't know how the bees survived so long without flying. I am amazed. But some hives are heavy on bees, light on weight for sure. 

This bad winter and spring sure made me realize my 2 different lines are very different in wintering traits. The Glenns had higher populations, but were frugal with stores, willing to take up feed in cold weather. Mountains wintered in smaller colonies and came out heavy, slow to build up until natural feed started coming in, reluctant to take up syrup in cold weather.

I think about everyone that tried to overwinter Italians around here lost their hives.

I did OAV in December and hives look great.
This frame is from one of my 2014 breeder queens.









Definitely time to get the feed shims off. Mountains -late April with another 2014 queen still heading the hive









Mountain line, early April photo









Below, Glenns late Feb. Lucky they took up feed without balking at the cold. My blackberry flow was rained out last summer, honey dribbled in the next month from Natural vegetation-weeds & wildflowers. 









That Carniolan II breeder queen I got from Joe Latshaw has overwintered twice and came out looking great again this spring. Just took some grafts from her a couple days ago.









Not all looked like this, had some small overwintered nucs on 3-4 frames, I just removed the late summer mated overwintered queens and gave them a new capped cell. Should give them time to get brood capped and forage a bit until the new queen starts in, weather & night time temps bound to be warmer, more flow available. Hope it is the right move. They've been hanging on like this for months. I'm ready for a change in growth. I think it will kick start them up, get them out of the rut they are in. I could have combined them or given a boost frame, but didn't want to do that. I had cells to set and no real place for them anyway. I didn't expect my first graft to be as successful as it was. 

I am a full month behind on all my production.


----------



## Scitfrostbite

Interesting mention of OAV in December. I did my last OAV on Dec 1st and all my Italian hives made it through the winter. I've been told you got to hit them once the brooding stops and now with these warm winters (climate change?) this seems to be getting later. I remember when I started they said do it at thanksgiving. Also, at the BK association meeting last weekend I asked everyone who lost their hives when they last treated, they all said Sept or October. 

Was it just dumb luck all mine made it?

Today in the nice weather I finally inspected my overwintered hives. Two exploding hives had lots of QCs, one hive had capped cells. I tried my first vertical split with a SB. And, made a couple of nucs. Just like last year, the first week of May seems to be when swarm mania is starting.


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## Michael Palmer

Cuttingedgelandinc said:


> Off topic question for you, when do you typically start grafting? Up here it is usually the end of May.


I'm supposed to set up my first cell builders next Tuesday 5/9, and first graft on 5/19. Tuesday is supposed to be 45˚, rainy, and breezy. Wonderful.


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## Bob J

Dandelions, fruit trees and ornamentals blooming everywhere near me but the weather is not letting the girls get out much... Heavy rain predicted today into tomorrow which will make driving down to Ct to pick up nucs interesting...


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## wildbranch2007

Michael Palmer said:


> I'm supposed to set up my first cell builders next Tuesday 5/9, and first graft on 5/19. Tuesday is supposed to be 45˚, rainy, and breezy. Wonderful.


:thumbsup: I started middle of last week, gave up middle of this week, try again middle of next week, and around and around we go:shhhh:


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## camero7

Ahhh farming, isn't it wonderful:ws:


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## kaizen

camero7 said:


> Ahhh farming, isn't it wonderful:ws:


Went out to one of my outyards on a farm. the owner and his farmer friends were sitting around the farmstand drinking coffee and giving each other the business about who was the worst farmer. They all agreed I was as I had not produced anything to sell last year and my livestock all died. Had to agree with the old coots


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## camero7

I know the feeling...


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## camero7

So, dandelions are in full bloom here now. Different yards are sure acting different this year. One yard is completely ignoring the dandelions, one is working them hard and the other is somewhat. Watched 3 hives, side by side, all bringing in different pollen, one had dandelion, one had tree pollen and one had a light grey pollen [not sure what it is]. But sure is interesting that the communication is in the hive and not shared, I always thought that drifters would do that but not happening this year.


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## Ramona

Have been working bees in East Texas for last 2 months. Beekeeper I'm working with says this has been the worst year for nectar in 40 years. We have been feeding continuously. 

I'm making nucs and each has been fed over a gallon of sugar syrup. I have have through over 2000 lbs of sugar; did not factor this much sugar or feeding time into my plan! Early flowers did not produce any honey, the tallow is early but not producing as usual. Plenty of pollen though and the bees look amazing! 

Almost done checking my nucs for cell acceptance/mated queens. I'm over 96%!!!!! Gorgeous brood and bees. They are supposed to leave for Massachusetts Tuesday, hope they arrive to find a flow.

Ramona
www.freetobee.com


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## camero7

Light flow here in Spencer, W. Brookfield. Your yard in New Braintree should be good now.


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## Ramona

Lost 10/12 in my New Braintree yard before winter. Got a call mid March from a bee friend who saw hives down in that yard. I was in Texas so he checked for me, hives scattered and bear fence wire looked like it had been cut. Stillman's told me severe wind had snapped the wires (!). It looked like vandalism but no footprints in snow. My two "survivors" were the scattered hives. Bringing back plenty of bees to repopulate that yard, lol. My Leominster locations did much better, have gotten reports that bees are still flying. I'll be able to check for real on Thursday after I get back.


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## nediver

camero7 said:


> light grey pollen [not sure what it is].


A guess would be plum. Ornamental like thundercloud which is popular in homescapes.


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## camero7

> Lost 10/12 in my New Braintree yard before winter. Got a call mid March from a bee friend who saw hives down in that yard. I was in Texas so he checked for me, hives scattered and bear fence wire looked like it had been cut. Stillman's told me severe wind had snapped the wires (!). It looked like vandalism but no footprints in snow. My two "survivors" were the scattered hives.


Had a similar experience in my nuc yard in Spencer... The blizzard was very tough... 60+mph winds sustained for over 6 hours with blowing snow. Learned that my nuc yard was too exposed, even though the hives were covered with tarps screwed to pallets. Just ripped the tarps up and blew half of them away.


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## Bob J

Lots of rain and windy last week. Nighttime lows ranged from 45 to 65F and daytime highs from 50 to 68F. 7 days above 50F. 3 days of rain with rainfall for the month (May) at .73" and YTD at 12.74". 

Yellow and grey pollen coming in all yards. Cherry and apple are done. Highbush blueberries are now blooming. Ornamental trees are blooming (mostly crab apple and cherry varieties). Dandelions are out just about everywhere.

No swarms reported this week.

Overwintered hives are holding their own with no significant weight gain or loss. Packages are looking good coming up on first new brood emerging the end of this week. Each is taking about a half gallon of 2:1 a week and most of a pollen sub patty. New nuc installs went well despite the rainy weather. Extracted roughly 150# of honey from my deadouts and will put the wets on hives this upcoming weekend. Setting up equipment for second wave of nucs coming in this next weekend. Everything getting scraped down, cleaned out and a fresh coat of paint.


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## Peter Montague

I have not seen a single honey bee on a dandelion yet. Even on the nicer days we have had I haven't seen any honey bees foraging outside my apiaries anywhere and I have been looking.


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## kaizen

I saw one lonely solitary honeybee on dandi's in my yard over the weekend. Pretty sure they are full of food but I will miss due to the temps. I had to check a couple queen replacements yesterday to make sure they were released. With Two sweatshirts under my suit I waded through a field of thousands of dandilions in all stages. Found more ticks on me then bees on them. I have been feeding with zip loc bags this year so far and they have not taken much in the last week at all so guessing they are mostly clustered and not doing much. Looks like it will be like this for another 7-10 days with some breaks of sunshine. By then i'm sure the dandelion flow will be missed. again.


----------



## Bob J

Good sized swarm recovered by a PCBA (Plymouth County Beekeepers) club member just south of me in Braintree last night....


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## nediver

Yesterday.


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## Bob J

nediver said:


> Yesterday.


Tis the season...... Weekly checks for queen cells are on my hive inspection list.....


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## MaineMike

Finally, Im a keeper of bees again. Installed 2 packages Tuesday afternoon. Each on 5 frames of empty comb, a couple with some capped/uncapepd honey from my winter loss, plus a drone frame and a new frame, a follower taking up the remaining space in each deep.

I came up with a scheme to insulate the in-hive 1/2 gallon jar feeders so the 1:1 would stay warmer longer, you can see it in the pics, it actually worked pretty good. We had a 40 degree night, and 24 hrs later the syrup was at 69 degrees. But of course, the bees seem to be out collecting nectar and are ignoring the feeders - so much for planning! I say they seem to be collecting nectar because I see no pollen returning, but there is a lot of coming and going at the entrances.

They seem to have settled in, next step is some OAV, maybe Sunday.

Lots of blooms here in York County Maine, flowering trees, 'lions, 4-sythias, glad the forecast has been wrong this week, no real rain and warm 60 degree partly sunny afternoons.

Mike


----------



## Bob J

MaineMike said:


> Finally, Im a keeper of bees again. Installed 2 packages Tuesday afternoon. Each on 5 frames of empty comb, a couple with some capped/uncapepd honey from my winter loss, plus a drone frame and a new frame, a follower taking up the remaining space in each deep.
> 
> I came up with a scheme to insulate the in-hive 1/2 gallon jar feeders so the 1:1 would stay warmer longer, you can see it in the pics, it actually worked pretty good. We had a 40 degree night, and 24 hrs later the syrup was at 69 degrees. But of course, the bees seem to be out collecting nectar and are ignoring the feeders - so much for planning! I say they seem to be collecting nectar because I see no pollen returning, but there is a lot of coming and going at the entrances.
> 
> They seem to have settled in, next step is some OAV, maybe Sunday.
> 
> Lots of blooms here in York County Maine, flowering trees, 'lions, 4-sythias, glad the forecast has been wrong this week, no real rain and warm 60 degree partly sunny afternoons.
> 
> Mike


Looks pretty cool Mike.... My packages are doing exactly the opposite... An occasional pollen forager but mostly they are clustered on the brood and around the feed can and pollen sub... Only time I see them out in any quantity is when they get a break in the weather for a poop break. This weekend will be 21 days from the install so hopefully will see new bees emerging soon to relieve the old guard....


----------



## NewbeeInNH

Cmon little bee swarms! I've got some nice hives all set up for you at my place, complete with capped frames! You'll love it!

I just walked thru the dandelions here. I saw several bees on dandelions so I'm thinking maybe it just took a week or so for the nectar to get active. It's 56F and overcast but at least it's not 45F and raining, so they seem to be taking the opportunity. Tomorrow and maybe Saturday will be the same, a lot of rain coming on Sunday. But cheer up! Starting Tuesday the skies are going to open up! It's going to be sunny and in the 70s! So if you haven't seen dandelion activity, hold on. It's coming.

The ticks are super, super bad here. Between pulling them off the dog and her bed, and engorged ticks dropped on the carpet, I've even woken up at 1:30 a.m. feeling a tick crawling on my back. I have the 10 chickens pulling tick duty outside so hopefully that will help. Going to have to give in and keep the lawn mowed this summer. Last year I let the lawn grow for the bees, but they didn't thank me for that by mostly dying off, so this summer they're going to have to fend for themselves.

Strange thing, one of my 3 hives that is still alive, and this hive had the cover blown off in the very high winds we had a couple months back, anyway a month ago when I checked them they were okay and I added a box to them. Something went wrong with that box somehow because when I went in a couple weeks ago, there was some dead larvae (black and uncapped - maybe froze? Not a lot of it, maybe 30 cells, I suspect the queen was just starting to lay) and the bees abandoned the hive to hang only on top of the inner cover, and that's where they still are today because I just lifted the lid and they had some nice comb up there and seemed happy. (I didn't check under the inner cover tho, so MAYBE there's some down beneath.) I'm just going to leave them for now because they're too fragile to mess with. I'll check them after Tuesday when summer arrives. But I'm wondering what propelled them to move up there. There was no smell in the hive or on the frames (when I checked a couple weeks ago) so I don't suspect AFB.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Cmon little bee swarms! I've got some nice hives all set up for you at my place, complete with capped frames! You'll love it!
> 
> I just walked thru the dandelions here. I saw several bees on dandelions so I'm thinking maybe it just took a week or so for the nectar to get active. It's 56F and overcast but at least it's not 45F and raining, so they seem to be taking the opportunity. Tomorrow and maybe Saturday will be the same, a lot of rain coming on Sunday. But cheer up! Starting Tuesday the skies are going to open up! It's going to be sunny and in the 70s! So if you haven't seen dandelion activity, hold on. It's coming.
> 
> The ticks are super, super bad here. Between pulling them off the dog and her bed, and engorged ticks dropped on the carpet, I've even woken up at 1:30 a.m. feeling a tick crawling on my back. I have the 10 chickens pulling tick duty outside so hopefully that will help. Going to have to give in and keep the lawn mowed this summer. Last year I let the lawn grow for the bees, but they didn't thank me for that by mostly dying off, so this summer they're going to have to fend for themselves.
> 
> Strange thing, one of my 3 hives that is still alive, and this hive had the cover blown off in the very high winds we had a couple months back, anyway a month ago when I checked them they were okay and I added a box to them. Something went wrong with that box somehow because when I went in a couple weeks ago, there was some dead larvae (black and uncapped - maybe froze? Not a lot of it, maybe 30 cells, I suspect the queen was just starting to lay) and the bees abandoned the hive to hang only on top of the inner cover, and that's where they still are today because I just lifted the lid and they had some nice comb up there and seemed happy. (I didn't check under the inner cover tho, so MAYBE there's some down beneath.) I'm just going to leave them for now because they're too fragile to mess with. I'll check them after Tuesday when summer arrives. But I'm wondering what propelled them to move up there. There was no smell in the hive or on the frames (when I checked a couple weeks ago) so I don't suspect AFB.


If you get a chance post a couple of pics...... Could be any one of a number of things and that would help us understand what you are seeing....


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## NewbeeInNH

Yup. I'll try to post 2 pics of the frame that I took out of there with the dead larvae. When the weather warms up on Tues or Weds I'll open the hive and show you how they're congregating above the inner cover. Altho maybe they're going to move back down, but it didn't look like it a couple weeks ago. This was all the brood there was, it wasn't much. Any ideas? Maybe they just got chilled, don't know.


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## nediver

NewbeeInNH said:


> \The ticks are super, super bad here.


I am 15 min from Lyme, CT. Our state sampling shows one of the worst years ever for ticks, and within the last 3 weeks more than 40% of samples sent had Lyme. There is also a new virus now as well.

I have never heard of so many people chatting about ticks as they have this year.


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## nediver

NewbeeInNH said:


> Yup. I'll try to post 2 pics of the frame that I took out of there with the dead larvae. When the weather warms up on Tues or Weds I'll open the hive and show you how they're congregating above the inner cover. Altho maybe they're going to move back down, but it didn't look like it a couple weeks ago. This was all the brood there was, it wasn't much. Any ideas? Maybe they just got chilled, don't know.
> 
> View attachment 33035
> 
> 
> View attachment 33036


Looks very much like chillbrood. Also, are a few of those cells chalky? Picture is good but no substitute for being there.


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## NewbeeInNH

nediver said:


> I am 15 min from Lyme, CT. Our state sampling shows one of the worst years ever for ticks, and within the last 3 weeks more than 40% of samples sent had Lyme. There is also a new virus now as well.
> 
> I have never heard of so many people chatting about ticks as they have this year.


Ugh. We lived in CT and 2 out of 5 of us have had Lyme diagnoses. The new virus appears dangerous. 

Glad to know that looks like chilled brood and not a disease.


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## MaineMike

I was reading up on bee venom, the major component of it attacks the Lyme bacteria, so off with the veils!

"Recent research proved that one of the peptides in bee venom, melittin, has a strong inhibitory effect on the Lyme spirochete at very low doses"


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## Bob J

nediver said:


> Looks very much like chillbrood. Also, are a few of those cells chalky? Picture is good but no substitute for being there.


Agree, looks like they were chilled.... Any eggs or larva in the new comb they built above the inner cover? Am thinking they may have lost their queen...


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## NewbeeInNH

I'll check on Tuesday. If they did lose their queen then it would have been my fault when I was in there a month ago adding and reversing, so once again, staying out of the hive altogether is sometimes helpful!! But we'll see.
---
"Recent research proved that one of the peptides in bee venom, melittin, has a strong inhibitory effect on the Lyme spirochete at very low doses" - Wow, you wouldn't happen to have a link for that, would you?


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> I'll check on Tuesday. If they did lose their queen then it would have been my fault when I was in there a month ago adding and reversing, so once again, staying out of the hive altogether is sometimes helpful!! But we'll see.
> ---
> "Recent research proved that one of the peptides in bee venom, melittin, has a strong inhibitory effect on the Lyme spirochete at very low doses" - Wow, you wouldn't happen to have a link for that, would you?


Sounds good..... I did find the BVT Lyme reference here http://www.klinghardtacademy.com/Protocols/The-Treatment-of-Lyme-Disease-with-Bee-Venom.html somewhat down the page which sites some of the specific research papers on the subject.... You might also want to look in the apitherapy subforum... Might be some good discussion there....


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## camero7

> My packages are doing exactly the opposite... An occasional pollen forager but mostly they are clustered on the brood and around the feed can and pollen sub... Only time I see them out in any quantity is when they get a break in the weather for a poop break. This weekend will be 21 days from the install so hopefully will see new bees emerging soon to relieve the old guard....


Once again it's all local... my packages are flying hard and bringing in nectar and a lot of pollen. After this weekend they should be good to go and be time for a second box.


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## wildbranch2007

MaineMike said:


> I was reading up on bee venom, the major component of it attacks the Lyme bacteria, so off with the veils!
> 
> "Recent research proved that one of the peptides in bee venom, melittin, has a strong inhibitory effect on the Lyme spirochete at very low doses"


true but many of my beek friends in Mass. have eventually gotten Lyme, but usually at an old age, so I think it does work.


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## kaizen

wildbranch2007 said:


> true but many of my beek friends in Mass. have eventually gotten Lyme, but usually at an old age, so I think it does work.


Man if this lyme cure goes viral don't laugh when you see me on the news charging everyone 20 bucks to stick their hand in my hives. I can see it now. My hobby will finally make money.


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## camero7

> true but many of my beek friends in Mass. have eventually gotten Lyme, but usually at an old age, so I think it does work.


I'm 74 and still lucky I guess. Had a couple of bulls-eyes a couple of years ago. See ticks on me this year and every year, can't ovoid them and work the hives. Hope it continues to work


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## NewbeeInNH

New Hampshire Beekeepers Association has published the results of their 2016-2017 hive survey. Between October 1 and March 31, the beekeepers that participated reported 65% losses of their hives, and 40% losses of their nucs. There's other interesting info in the report:

http://nhbeekeepers.org/?page_id=568


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## Spysar

I'm in NY right on the Mass border. A bear came 2 nights ago and wrecked my hive. I put it back together. We'll see. Lot's of bears are coming out right now. It's the time when they're out, and there's not a lot for them to eat. I have an alarm on my hive now. The hive is only 20 steps from my backdoor...


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> New Hampshire Beekeepers Association has published the results of their 2016-2017 hive survey. Between October 1 and March 31, the beekeepers that participated reported 65% losses of their hives, and 40% losses of their nucs. There's other interesting info in the report:
> 
> http://nhbeekeepers.org/?page_id=568


Great stuff... Thanks for posting it!


----------



## Bob J

Spysar said:


> I'm in NY right on the Mass border. A bear came 2 nights ago and wrecked my hive. I put it back together. We'll see. Lot's of bears are coming out right now. It's the time when they're out, and there's not a lot for them to eat. I have an alarm on my hive now. The hive is only 20 steps from my backdoor...


Sorry to hear this.... Are you planning on putting up a bear fence?


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## Bob J

Continued cold last week with a welcome warmup starting tomorrow. Nighttime lows ranged from 40 to 49F and daytime highs from 51 to 58F. 7 days above 50F. 3 days of rain with rainfall for the month (May) at 1.53" and YTD at 13.54". 

Yellow and grey pollen coming in all yards. Highbush blueberries still blooming. Ornamental trees are still blooming (mostly crab apple and cherry varieties). Dandelions are now mostly to seed. Azaleas are blooming.

3 swarms reported this week.

Overwintered hives are holding their own with no significant weight gain or loss. Two queens are laying nice solid brood patterns. EFB hive now has a small patch of solid capped brood. One overwintered has significant shotgun brood which looks to be my second case of EFB. Different yard from the first. This hive has a decent population so will wait a bit to see if it clears up. 

Packages are still looking good with 2:1 consumption about a half gallon per week. Really going through the pollen sub with some hives going through a whole Ultrabee patty a week. 

Nucs installed last week are solid and calm with the queens now laying in most of the deep (I gave them built out frames). They are also going through a whole Ultrabee patty a week. Added a second deep of wets from the recent extraction so they have enough room to build up. Installed another set of nucs in the Needham yard, each with a gallon of 2:1 and a pollen sub patty. Nice to see the yards coming back up to full strength. ;- )


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## Bob J

Forgot to mention, picked up my Maxant cappings spinner out at their new plant in Devens.... Didn't get a chance to unpack it yet but hopefully will tonight....


----------



## MaineMike

Two hives bringing in pollen non-stop, yellow, not sure where they are gathering it, nothing real obvious, maybe 'lions. Queen candy eaten and found released, hives are hummin'. Treated both with OAV, day 6 after install. Almost 60 degrees here today, overcast, blustery, this week looks marvelous though!


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## camero7

Went through all my hives the last 2 days... decent flow on, not one swarm cell, put on supers. Too hot today for me to work the hives... yesterday afternoon was tough enough.


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## Scitfrostbite

As you might expect, swarms being reported around my area this week including me.

The vertical split I did on the 5/4 to combat swarming seems to be working. Yesterday's inspection of my other hives revealed Two more strong overwintered hives full of capped and uncapped cells (no q-cells on the 4th). Earlier frame/box manipulations didn't work at all on these hives. Spent the evening building more snelgrove boards (see photo) hopefully I can try this snelgrove board thing again on several more hives before they swarm. Although I don't want more hives I still made several nucs with some of the capped q-cells, I'll figure out what to do with them later.


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## markus2

Spysar said:


> I'm in NY right on the Mass border. A bear came 2 nights ago and wrecked my hive. I put it back together. We'll see. Lot's of bears are coming out right now. It's the time when they're out, and there's not a lot for them to eat. I have an alarm on my hive now. The hive is only 20 steps from my backdoor...


I would think that if your alarm is loud enough, it will most likely scare off any bear...especially if it's triggered by motion detection. I have more faith in a loud siren than I do with an high voltage fence. Good luck!


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## NewbeeInNH

Nothing works like an electric fence. Last spring there was a young bear in my yard. I forget if my fence was activated or if I was just afraid of the bear attacking my dog which was going ballistic with barking and trying to intimidate the bear. I tried everything to "sound" it out of there -- pots and pans clanging, turning up the son's amp to complete screech and sticking it out the window, and it just kind of lolled around enjoying the show. It didn't run until the police cruiser came down the driveway. Something about juvies and law enforcement. (I called them because I was afraid the bear was going to kill my dog, altho they pretty much don't do that.)

I have the electric netting fence with a solar charger. I got it after bears attacked my hives twice a few years ago. We live in complete black bear country. You don't have a fence, you eventually have a bear. Ever since I got it, absolutely no problem with bears. Even tho the shock doesn't seem like it would deter a huge predator like a bear, it really works.

P.S. I have one lonely hive left. Last year devastated my apiary for whatever reason - probably the drought making them weak and then the mites and viruses finishing them off. I had 11 hives/nucs/splits going at one point last summer. This hive looks like it's building up well so we'll see. If it can become a strong hive, I'll try splitting it a few times this summer and building the apiary back up. I haven't had to buy packages in years, and really don't want to. I've gotten spoiled to not having to spend the money on packages and southern bees.


----------



## Spysar

markus2 said:


> I would think that if your alarm is loud enough, it will most likely scare off any bear...especially if it's triggered by motion detection. I have more faith in a loud siren than I do with an high voltage fence. Good luck!


The alarm part is in my house. I'm the one who hears it, not the bear. Then it's up to me to see what's going on. The hive is only 20 steps behind my house with a spotlight on it. Usually I have to fire a gun into the dirt and the bear leaves. I live deep in the woods, in a very rural area. I also have other livestock. Which by the way has their own electric fence. I know what to do to get rid of bears...I don't need advice for that. I come here for bee advice, thanks.


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## camero7

Spysar said:


> Please don't tell me what to do until you have all your stuff ruined by bears. It's not going to kill anything. The worst it would do is trip a breaker....I will do whatever I want to guard my livestock.


Don't know about NY but here in MA, if someone stumbled into your fence and had a heart attack and died, you'd face manslaughter charges or possible 2nd degree murder charges. Seems to me a good fence charger would be more prudent.


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## Bob J

First heat wave of the season last week with 3 successive days 90+. Nighttime lows ranged from 48 to 70F and daytime highs from 60 to 95F. 2 days of rain with rainfall for the month (May) at 1.70" and YTD at 13.71". 

Yellow and grey pollen coming in all yards. Highbush blueberries still blooming. Ornamental trees are pretty much done. Black Locust is starting to bloom. 5 swarms reported this week.

Overwintered hives are showing white wax but no significant weight gain or loss. Packages continue to build up well with roughly half getting a second deep. Connecticut nucs all got their second deep as well.


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## kaizen

Bob....How is it that post your dandelion flow your overwintered hives are not showing a lot of weight gain? You sure those gizmo's are working ?


----------



## Bob J

Hi Terrence,
Am thinking a combination of lots of hungry brood and a weak flow (so far anyway)..... Flow signs are there (white wax + nectar) but weight is pretty steady.... Scales are working fine as I can see the weight loss as the foragers leave in the morning and the gain back when they return in the evening.... 

Am keeping my fingers crossed that this week will kick off the spring flow.... Just started seeing black locust blooming which is (weather permitting of course) a strong flow for me....


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## camero7

Bees are going to eat what nectar they've stored this week if the weather forecast is correct.


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## kaizen

Overcast and 60's. I'll be ecstatic if this activity continues all week.


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## Bob J

BIP has posted the state by state reported hive loss for last year....

https://beeinformed.org/2017/05/26/preliminary-2016-2017-state-total-and-average-losses/

Average reported losses are:

Massachusetts = 52.1%
New Hampshire = 67.14%
Vermont = 59.89%
Connecticut = 53.89%
Maine = 57.22%


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## NewbeeInNH

Wow! What's with you Massachusetts guys and 15% losses? Tell us your secrets!!!


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Wow! What's with you Massachusetts guys and 15% losses? Tell us your secrets!!!


LOL! If only it were so....;-) 15% apparently reported 100% loss... The average loss is much more in line with everyone else....


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## NewbeeInNH

Yikes. Those numbers are confusing. Sounds like total loss is one beekeeper one vote, while average loss is one colony one vote.

My female brain has always had a hard time with statistics.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Yikes. Those numbers are confusing. Sounds like total loss is one beekeeper one vote, while average loss is one colony one vote.
> 
> My female brain has always had a hard time with statistics.


Agreed they certainly are confusing.... It would be better if they at least stated how they treated the data to generate the results....

I did a couple of quick review and it looks like the 3 tables are each a different sample set..... I would have assumed that annual is the consolidation of the two seasons (winter & summer) but the sample sizes don't add up so the "Annual" must be another separate survey.... I participated in this but for the life of me can't remember the questions but am assuming they were time bound for each survey (ie between months x and y please answer the following questions.....). Only thing that would make sense.... 

Am assuming total loss is the number of respondents that are reporting 100% loss but the numbers seem pretty high (except MA of course) so am not sure how that column fits... Average loss should be safe as I assume it is the number of deadouts reported at the end of the time interval vs # of live hives at the start of the period..... 

You would think a group that does this as a core capability would do a better job of presenting the results.....:-(

I like the way that CAPA (Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists) report their annual losses..... http://www.capabees.com/shared/2015/07/2016-CAPA-Statement-on-Colony-Losses-July-19.pdf


----------



## kaizen

hmm that link isn't working for me. 

If anything it makes me not feel so bad about my losses as it seems everyone got hit hard.


----------



## Bob J

kaizen said:


> hmm that link isn't working for me.
> 
> If anything it makes me not feel so bad about my losses as it seems everyone got hit hard.


Sorry.... Link is fixed....


----------



## camero7

Working bees yesterday noticed an unmarked queen in one hive. Must have been a cell I missed. Marked queen is gone. Package this spring.

My one surviving Carpenter queen is exceptional. However, her workers are much more defensive that any of my other hives. Need to put my jacket on to work with them, even when not pulling frames, just lifting lid. Will do a wash soon to see if they are really controlling mites. They sure look good.


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## Ramona

Back from Texas with the nucs I made from commercial stock untreated for mites for 10 years. Have been setting down in yards and putting another 5 frame deep on the ones that aren't sold. Bees have been back here 17 days and have been storing honey and pollen and making a lot more bees. Brood patterns are beautiful! The bees are not defensive and are easy to work. Am excited to see what they'll do here.


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## Bob J

Seasonal temps last week with a fair amount of rain. Nighttime lows ranged from 49 to 55F and daytime highs from 55 to 68F. 4 days of measurable rain with rainfall for the month (May) at 2.75" and YTD at 14.76". 

Yellow and grey pollen coming in all yards. Highbush blueberries are done. Black Locust is blooming.

5 swarms reported this week. So far no interest in the swarm traps I have out.

Two yards (Marshfield and Rockland) are showing significant weight gain. Some signs of flow (white wax) in my other yards but no significant weight gain yet. 

Most of the nucs are building up well and are now filling out their second deep. 3 of the 5 packages I got this year are also working on their second deep. Will be placing my order for replacement queens for the dinks this week. Prepping comb honey supers (shallows) to go on the strong hives next weekend. Bottled honey for the Strawberry fair and Union Point farmers markets next weekend. Processed capping wax from the most recent extraction and cast roughly 3 pounds of 1oz bars. Inventoried and prepped supers so they are available for checkerboarding and additions as needed.


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## Cloverdale

Ramona said:


> Back from Texas with the nucs I made from commercial stock untreated for mites for 10 years. Have been setting down in yards and putting another 5 frame deep on the ones that aren't sold. Bees have been back here 17 days and have been storing honey and pollen and making a lot more bees. Brood patterns are beautiful! The bees are not defensive and are easy to work. Am excited to see what they'll do here.


Are there many beekeepers near your apiary?


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## grantsbees

Bob, do you think all the clouds and rain we've had and are expected to get will have a significant impact on brood and honey production?


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## Bob J

grantsbees said:


> Bob, do you think all the clouds and rain we've had and are expected to get will have a significant impact on brood and honey production?


So far it certainly doesn't seem to have a negative impact on my hives... Most are building up well with two yards showing significant flow (10 lbs/hive in Marshfield and 20 lbs/hive in Rockland last week). The flow is just starting so time will tell but so far so good...


----------



## grantsbees

Bob J said:


> So far it certainly doesn't seem to have a negative impact on my hives... Most are building up well with two yards showing significant flow (10 lbs/hive in Marshfield and 20 lbs/hive in Rockland last week). The flow is just starting so time will tell but so far so good...


That's reassuring! I don't weigh my hives so I can only go based on what I visually observe. I did notice they would still be very active even when it's cloudy and over 55 degrees. By the way, are you feeding syrup right now?


----------



## Cloverdale

I would like to add to this discussion. We all know that beekeeping is local; but here in the northeast it seems like the weather is similiar. Rain rain and more rain with some good days in between. I am in the western Catskills and the bees are making loads of early Spring honey. I do follow what Michael Palmer advocates, super early and get maple honey. We did and have extracted more than 2 supers so far. As for nucs, we bought a very healthy 5 frame local one on May 12 and was put into an 8 frame deep and then supered. We went yesterday to take a look and was in pre- swarm mode with back- filling everywhere. That hive was DMMMM q.ex. MM. There was wall to wall brood up to the excluder. We only added 2 mediums to make that configuration. We gave to go back and split it because it is too high. 
I think with this weather the nectar is flowing hard; even after a hard rain all the hives manage to bring in pollen. Now all my hives have over- wintered (all 6 of them ) (my husbands 2, one had turned into a drone layer and the other we think varroa, not sure) so this is one reason they are doing so well. I have always underestimated the early Spring plants and honey and my honey bees. Now I won't.


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## Bob J

grantsbees said:


> That's reassuring! I don't weigh my hives so I can only go based on what I visually observe. I did notice they would still be very active even when it's cloudy and over 55 degrees. By the way, are you feeding syrup right now?


Fed syrup to my packages until they had the first deep built out and then stopped. Second deep was already built out when I added it so no need to feed them for that and also was seeing signs of the flow kicking in so didn't want to risk encouraging them to fill the brood nest.... My nucs already had capped honey when I installed them so no need to feed them... Only hives I currently have syrup on are my two EFB hives which I am trying to sustain until I can requeen.....


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## grantsbees

Thanks Bob and Cloverdale for your inputs. I will take this rainy weather over last year's drought any day!


----------



## markus2

grantsbees said:


> Thanks Bob and Cloverdale for your inputs. I will take this rainy weather over last year's drought any day!


That's interesting because last years drought was my very best honey production in the last 5 years and was also the tastiest honey. Although, the drought during the Fall wasn't good at all for building up their stores.


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## camero7

Fall flow last year was a disaster for me... brambles are blooming and getting a nice flow in all yards right now. Unfortunately, no Locust trees close to me that I can find.


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## NHCOR

Had a hive that I started as a nuc this spring swarm today. Luckily I was able to rehive them after they landed on a rock. Had a few frames with nice queen cells in the original hive so I split that into two 5 frame nucs as well hopefully the new wooden ware I ordered last week shows up soon!


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## kaizen

NHCOR said:


> Had a hive that I started as a nuc this spring swarm today. Luckily I was able to rehive them after they landed on a rock. Had a few frames with nice queen cells in the original hive so I split that into two 5 frame nucs as well hopefully the new wooden ware I ordered last week shows up soon!


how many boxes were on them when they swarmed?


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## Bob J

Cool temps continue this week with a fair amount of rain. Nighttime lows ranged from 49 to 56F and daytime highs from 60 to 76F. 3 days of measurable rain with rainfall for the month (June) at .24" and YTD at 15.06". Near term forecast is cool temps and rain through Wed with warming back up into the 70's later in the week.

Orange and grey pollen coming in all yards. Black Locust is done. Choke cherry, Raspberry, Wild black cherry, chives and Thyme in the garden are blooming.

8 swarms reported this week. So far no interest in the swarm traps I have out.

Flow has dried up in Marshfield. Rockland hives still on a significant flow with 12lbs average weight gain this last week building on the 20 pound average the week before. No signs of flow in any of my other yards. 

More supers added to Rockland hives. Most of the supers there are just starting to be capped. Bees in all the yards are very active but mostly bringing in pollen. Neverwet shims and screened inner cover still appear to be working well keeping the hive beetles and black ants out of the hive. Keeping my fingers crossed that this solution will continue to work so I can avoid the problems I ran into last year.


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## NHCOR

Two deeps. I gave them the second box two weeks ago and elavated a drawn frame into the second box but they didn't seem interested in drawing comb and still had two undrawn frames in the first box as well. Never would have guessed this hive would swarm. Spot checked a couple frames last week and saw a couple empty cups but I didn't think much of it.


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## Cloverdale

NHCOR said:


> Two deeps. I gave them the second box two weeks ago and elavated a drawn frame into the second box but they didn't seem interested in drawing comb and still had two undrawn frames in the first box as well. Never would have guessed this hive would swarm. Spot checked a couple frames last week and saw a couple empty cups but I didn't think much of it.


This Spring flow has caused a LOT of backfilling hence they quickly go into swarm mode. Good thing you caught it. We have been splitting everything!


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## camero7

Great flow in my W Brookfield yard, not so much in the other yards. All yards I see lots of bees on the brambles


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## Bob J

Latest bout of rain and cold (40's!) expected to end today.... Will be good to see the sun! Warming trend into next week is expected to bring temps up into the high 80's.... Tulip Poplar is starting to bloom so keeping my fingers crossed!


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## grantsbees

Bob J said:


> Latest bout of rain and cold (40's!) expected to end today.... Will be good to see the sun! Warming trend into next week is expected to bring temps up into the high 80's.... Tulip Poplar is starting to bloom so keeping my fingers crossed!


Yes! Looking forward to it here in Dudley as well!


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## kaizen

spent lunch watching a hive that is so active I was wondering if they were about to swarm. Been a long time since I've seen my bees this happy.


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## NewbeeInNH

It's great, isn't it? I have 1 1/2 hives going and I love to watch them. Last I checked the stronger hive was nowhere near swarm potential, but I'm going to re-check next week when it's hot because they're sneaky.


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## NHCOR

Its been a crazy week just about all my hives are pretty nectar bound and in swarm prep mode. Been splitting hives but I wish I had pile of drawn out suppers! The bees are certainly bringing in the nectar a lot faster than they are drawing out comb.


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## nediver

NHCOR said:


> Its been a crazy week just about all my hives are pretty nectar bound and in swarm prep mode. Been splitting hives but I wish I had pile of drawn out suppers! The bees are certainly bringing in the nectar a lot faster than they are drawing out comb.



This pretty much describes my year. Bound, swarm, not enough equipment and comb for the amount of bees. May was crazy for me being in all my yards at least once a week sometimes more, and the full time job.


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## Cloverdale

This situation if having nectar bound hives is here also in my part of NY. New beekeepers are calling wondering what is happening with their hives. Most had swarmed already. All this rain and a ton of nectar. Even with supering early and extracting and splitting hives galore I still had two hives that swarmed; they were big over wintered ones. Also my husband bought a nuc and we have had to split it already. Ziti a great Spring for honey bee's this year.


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## Scitfrostbite

Glad to hear others experiencing same thing as me. Thank you for the reports.

My log says "April 15th- concerned about how much nectar already in deeps". I immediately started checkerboarding, supering, making nucs, etc over the next month. Currently, three hives on Snelgrove boards, one hive swarmed (I believe), two nucs now queenright. Hives full of dripping nectar but have run out of drawn supers and they are not touching the new supers with foundation.


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## Cloverdale

I can't seem to get this rightside up, and I'm missing another photo of the rest; I wanted to share the amount of supers on the hives...the smaller ones are splits.


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## Bob J

Second heat wave of the season at the end of the week with a fair amount of rain at the beginning. Nighttime lows ranged from 50 to 67F and daytime highs from 53 to 91F. 3 days of measurable rain with rainfall for the month (June) at 1.58" and YTD at 16.40". 

Orange, yellow and grey pollen coming in all yards. Choke and black cherry are done. Tulip tree is blooming. Raspberry, chives, blackberry and Thyme in the garden are blooming.

10 swarms reported this week. So far no interest in the swarm traps I have out.

Decent flow in all yards. Hives gained an average of 10lbs in Needham, 35lbs in Rockland, 25lbs in Marshfield, 20lbs in Quincy and nothing in Weymouth. 

Continuing to aggressively super (+checkerboarding) to stay ahead of the flow. Am planning on pulling capped frames/supers and doing my first extraction next weekend.


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## Scitfrostbite

The smartphone image rotation metadata is the problem. This usually happens when people transfers (email) a picture from their phone to their computer. An easy fix is to open the image in preview or similar app on computer and rotate the image 360 so the orientation metadata gets updated and then save the image. 9 times out of 10 this will fix it.



Cloverdale said:


> I can't seem to get this rightside up, and I'm missing another photo of the rest; I wanted to share the amount of supers on the hives...the smaller ones are splits.
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 33804


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## Cloverdale

Thanks, I used my iPad though.


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## Scitfrostbite

Sounds right. This mobile device rotation issue is mainly an Apple thing I've been told.


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## nediver

Scitfrostbite said:


> and they are not touching the new supers with foundation.
> 
> View attachment 33802


Also my issue, compounded by the use of plastic which I didnt wax. When I waxed them it got better, but I think I would be rolling in honey if i had enough drawn comb. There is always next year.


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## Scitfrostbite

Multiple bear sightings reported in NW Hopkinton this week. Found this on one hive along with snapped plum tree limbs this afternoon in the backyard happened while I was mowing the front yard. Never had to deal with a bear but this certainly seems like evidence of bear. Sound right?


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## Bob J

Scitfrostbite said:


> Multiple bear sightings reported in NW Hopkinton this week. Found this on one hive along with snapped plum tree limbs this afternoon in the backyard happened while I was mowing the front yard. Never had to deal with a bear but this certainly seems like evidence of bear. Sound right?
> 
> View attachment 33864


Thankfully have never had to deal with a bear attack but the one's I've heard about usually have the hives in the yard pretty much destroyed.... Much more damage than I see in your picture..... That having been said I would still err on the side of caution and put up an electric fence if you don't have one in place already.....


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## MaineMike

Things are looking pretty good in my 2 double deep hives. Did a quick inspection yesterday of just the top boxes, most frames are heavy with uncapped honey, a couple of frames with brood with surrounded with capped honey. Funny, one box they are filling the green plastic drone frame with... honey - whatever! So there goes that mite strategy. The two end frames are empty.

Question - lots of foraging still going on (visibly) , should I try to put a medium honey super on now, even though I feel the flow is near it's end? I tried this last year and they didnt touch it, they didnt build comb in it, but this year they seem to be bringing in more sooner.

Since my main strategy this year is overwintering, what say my expert friends? Is our NE spring flow close to being done? Should I plan for goldenrod now?

Thanks

Mike


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## Cloverdale

I don't know if these are new hives or not. You want plenty of room for that queen to lay...if they filled the drone frame with honey it sounds as if they might be running out of room. Rotate some full frames of honey to the outside and bring the empty ones into the brood area. What works for me is I always super early. I don't mind an unlimited broodnest either. If you want you could add another deep and pull up a frame of brood to have them start working up there; if there is no flow you could feed them. Where I am the clovers are out and the berries are just starting to bloom, then some of the Linden trees, so there is still a flow.


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## Bob J

I would echo what Cloverdale said as to management.... Two of my yards are showing a significant flow and (hopefully) the best is yet to come when the basswood and sweet pepperbush starts to bloom... For my yards typically I will see some varying levels of flow all the way through the end of July with a break for dearth in early August. Fall flow (hopefully) in late August to early Oct for knotweed and goldenrod. With what I hope is on the horizon I would ensure they have plenty of space for nectar storage and cure. Built out comb is what they need.... If you don't have enough then I would consider extracting some and giving them back the wets....


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## Bob J

Variable temps this week with a fair amount of rain. Nighttime lows ranged from 54 to 80F and daytime highs from 69 to 91F. 3 days of measurable rain with rainfall for the month (June) at 3.48" and YTD at 18.30". Near term forecast is warm temps (80's) and occasional rain. Should be a good upcoming week for foraging.

Orange and yellow pollen coming in all yards. Catalpa and Sumac are blooming

6 swarms reported this week. So far no interest in the swarm traps I have out. :-(

Marshfield and Rockland hives still on a significant flow with 14lbs average weight gain this last week. No signs of flow in any of my other yards. 

Added comb honey supers to the strong hives in Marshfield and Rockland. Moved hives in Quincy to Marshfield due to neighbor pool problems. Checkerboarded hives that are coming close to filling supers. Significant capped honey so will be planning on doing an extraction next weekend in prep for (hopefully) basswood flow.


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## MaineMike

Thanks for the guidance, these are new 'package' hives, but with 1/2 built comb from last year, interleaved with 1/2 new waxed frames. I'll move things around. I don't have more deeps or frames, they'll have to build comb anyways, so I'll give them mediums, smaller space, they can move stores up. I want them to keep as much stores as possible, so I don't want to extract right now.

Thanks Again,
Mike


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## Bob J

MaineMike said:


> Thanks for the guidance, these are new 'package' hives, but with 1/2 built comb from last year, interleaved with 1/2 new waxed frames. I'll move things around. I don't have more deeps or frames, they'll have to build comb anyways, so I'll give them mediums, smaller space, they can move stores up. I want them to keep as much stores as possible, so I don't want to extract right now.
> 
> Thanks Again,
> Mike


No worries Mike.... You might find Matt Davey's "Opening the sides of the Broodnest" technique interesting to help you build up your inventory of built comb..... http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?290784-Opening-the-Sides-of-the-Broodnest. With the warmer weather you are reasonably safe but I would still avoid breaking up the brood nest too much as you might get chilled brood... Matt's technique allows you to get them to build out the foundation without that risk....


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## Scitfrostbite

Deep inspection yesterday here in Hopkinton- plently of nectar coming in and loads of bright orange pollen (never seen so much coming in). Had to extract deep frames from three very nectar bound hives, made three gallons honey for dearth/Fall feeding. Bees still resisting new foundation supers. Three or four full capped/uncapped supers.

Did first OAV on all hives as scheduled. Sure was fun lifting all the full supers off and on.

No more bear sightings in the neighborhood. Hopefully he has moved on. Electric fence just about finished, lol.


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## kaizen

So this is what a honey flow is huh? Just realized this being my first full year with a good flow and i'm having some serious trouble. I only have ten hives that I started this year from packages. I gave them ten drawn and ten undrawn over the course of the last few months. I rotated in empty or just drawn comb into the brood nest but it seems they are bringing it in faster then they are drawing. Just was at one yard that I was at a week ago. Only one at that time was at the point I needed to add a super. That was the reason I went today. Farmer said that hive swarmed today. Upon inspection it looked like it. no brood and one or two queen cells. 
The others there were full of uncapped honey. Very little brood so I added a 3rd deep on one to give them room as well as a super. Others I inserted supers between and above the deeps.
I'm expecting queens this week and I think i'll be hard pressed to find the brood frames I will need. I don't have even one side of a frame completely capped so I can't extract. At my house I did this dance on a few 2 days ago to give them more room. They had so many bees outside I was getting concerned. All the supers I just added were undrawn so hoping they hop on them. crossing my fingers as there isn't much else I can do right?


----------



## camero7

A little bearding here too


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## Bob J

Warm temps this week with some rain. Nighttime lows ranged from 63 to 73F and daytime highs from 82 to 90F. 3 days of measurable rain with rainfall for the month (June) at 3.83" and YTD at 18.65". Near term forecast is warm temps (80's) and occasional rain. 

Lots of varied colored pollen (yellow, white, orange) as a strong flow in all yards. Catalpa, Tulip Tree, Sumac, Blackberries, privet and milkweed are blooming. Hopefully basswood will bloom this week.

10 swarms reported this week. Swarm season seems to be longer and more active than past years.

All yards did not show a significant flow last week. Average hive weights dropped 2 lbs in Weymouth, 10 lbs in Rockland, 11 lbs in Marshfield and held steady in Needham last week. 

Pulled frames of capped honey from heavy hives in Rockland and Marshfield, extracted and returned wets.


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## MaineMike

Up here in southern coastal Maine I was very please to see the medium supers I put on 1 week ago, with bare waxed foundation, already have frames with uncapped honey, this is NOTHING like last year! Most frames are almost completed with comb, some are just starting to be built. 

My strategy is overwintering stores, but is it unheard of to harvest honey the first year like this? Ive got more supers on the way in case they need it - if they do keep collecting through July...

Need guidance: Im thinking of putting excluders below the supers now, thoughts?

Mike


----------



## kaizen

MaineMike said:


> Up here in southern coastal Maine I was very please to see the medium supers I put on 1 week ago, with bare waxed foundation, already have frames with uncapped honey, this is NOTHING like last year! Most frames are almost completed with comb, some are just starting to be built.
> 
> My strategy is overwintering stores, but is it unheard of to harvest honey the first year like this? Ive got more supers on the way in case they need it - if they do keep collecting through July...
> 
> Need guidance: Im thinking of putting excluders below the supers now, thoughts?
> 
> Mike


I'd be cautious. If you want to do a few for the fun then fine. But I'm seeing hives lighten up. Made some nucs up yesterday and was surprised to find very light lower brood boxes. Some of the 2nd brood boxes are over 100 pounds while supers and lower are virtually empty. Believe I had four out of ten hives swarm in the last week or the queens shut down. I added several third deep brood boxes to give the others room. Found it impossible to find unmarked queens in the thousands of bees. Going to check in three days and I'm sure they will tell me if I screwed up. Really need to start marking every one. Although pollen coming in I did not see as much stored as expected.


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## MaineMike

Good advice, thank you. Hope you don't lose any more - Mike


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## kaizen

Unbelievable flow this year in most of my hives. Large hives now with 3 deep 10 frames and 3 supers and I still have wet frames! Went out to pull some frames tonight on one and took off 3 shallows. the rest of the shallows were not 90 percent capped. Added some deeps and checkerboarded the frames as the two current boxes which are very heavy have half the frames half drawn and filled with nectar. As soon as they start drawing they are filling. Nectar still coming in today and i'll be assembling more frames this weekend. Really seems to be taking a long time to fully cap even though we've had a normal spring with lots of good weather days. Thought about putting some frames on the spinner even though not capped just to give more laying room.


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## MaineMike

Checked the single medium supers over 2 deeps yesterday, all frames drawn out except outside ends, most frames loaded but only 1/2 capped.

Those yellow and black gloves from home depot, they dont work, stingers go right though the fabric... back to blue nitrile.

Signed,
Popeye Hand


----------



## kaizen

MaineMike said:


> Checked the single medium supers over 2 deeps yesterday, all frames drawn out except outside ends, most frames loaded but only 1/2 capped.
> 
> Those yellow and black gloves from home depot, they dont work, stingers go right though the fabric... back to blue nitrile.
> 
> Signed,
> Popeye Hand


That's funny. I was in there buying gloves to do a metal roof and saw those. Thought the leather on those would be nice for bees and then I saw the fabric. uh uh.


----------



## Bob J

Warm temps this week with some rain. Nighttime lows ranged from 61 to 81F and daytime highs from 64 to 86F. 2 days of measurable rain with rainfall for the month (July) at 0.72" and YTD at 19.60". Near term forecast is warm temps (80's) and several days of rain. 

Mostly yellow pollen. Basswood is blooming.

3 swarms reported this week. Swarm season seems to be tapering off.

No significant flow in any of my yards last week. Requeened 9 hives. Will order more queens this week to build nucs to overwinter.


----------



## Bob J

Cooler temps this week with a fair amount of rain. Nighttime lows ranged from 59 to 70F and daytime highs from 67 to 86F. 3 days of measurable rain (mostly thunderstorms) with rainfall for the month (July) at 1.05" and YTD at 19.93". 

Mostly yellow and white pollen coming in. Basswood is done and loosestrife is blooming.

3 swarms reported this week. Needham outyard picked up last week with the average hive putting on 8 lbs. Check and all 9 queens were accepted and are laying. Hopefully will be time to get them up to winter size before the season runs out... Pulled a super of capped honey from one hive in Rockland and half a super from one of the hives in Marshfield. Lots of nectar in the hives but other than these did not see any capped surplus worth taking. Should be coming up on Sweet Pepper bush bloom in a couple of weeks so am keeping my fingers crossed for some improvement.


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## nediver

Seeing early goldenrod around a few outyards on CT shore. Seems early. The rain seems to have helped a lot. I really would love a good fall flow. I never seem to do it. This year I have the bees and the xtra frames.


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## kaizen

Funny you mention goldenrod. I was in a hive last night and smelled something that smelled like goldenrod stench. Never found anything dead so who knows.


----------



## nediver

Bob J said:


> 3 swarms reported this week.


I had Nuc with capped cells this week. I kind of expect that even though they seemed like they had room. 

Do you typically see a lot of July swarms?


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## NewbeeInNH

I'm seeing goldenrod here too. It surprised me, it's only 3rd week in July. Could summer be ending so quickly? Surely not. I'm not ready for goldenrod. Go away.


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## nediver

Question for you all- I have a yard that I started 2 packages in late April. They are so sluggish compared to my other colonies/yards. I think I am going to move them but dont have the muster to have that converation with the very nice host at this moment- but thats a conversation for another day.

Colony #5 has finally filled out 18 deep frames and looks good for fall. 

Colony #6 has maybe 6-8 frames drawn and in use. Inspection today was brutal- they were NASTY (Sunny mid morning). Brood pattern was spotty. There is a queen because I saw eggs, but I didn't go looking for her. I didn't pull every frame either. I didn't spot disease like EFB or AFB, but I will look more specifically for that when I return. I saw at least one queen cup on the face of a frame and expected eggs/larvae in it but there was none. One other note is when opening the hive the top super wasnt really in use; there was a lot of proplis on the top bars toward the back of the hive where I was standing. As I pulled a few frames there was empty honeycomb with propolis on the wax honeycomb edges. I have never seen that before either.

I am of the mind to first determine if they are diseased and if not then cull queen and combine with either NUC or one of my production hives in another yard.

What are your thoughts and what would you do?


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## kaizen

We are not on a flow right now so they won't build any more till maybe goldenrod. But between now and then those store will be consumed. Think about moving frames of brood and resources if the queen laying pattern is good. If capped is spotty but eggs are good treat for mites


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## Bob J

kaizen said:


> We are not on a flow right now so they won't build any more till maybe goldenrod. But between now and then those store will be consumed. Think about moving frames of brood and resources if the queen laying pattern is good. If capped is spotty but eggs are good treat for mites


Agree 100% with kaizen..... Also be sensitive to possible robbing as that can make a hive very defensive in a short period of time.... Make sure entrance reducers are at a minimum and/or robbing screens are in place...


----------



## Bob J

Hot and dry this past week. Nighttime lows ranged from 65 to 72F and daytime highs from 76 to 90F with 4 days at 90. Only 1 day of measurable rain with rainfall for the month (July) at 1.62" and YTD at 20.5". Weather pattern is starting to turn drier with rainfall limited to later afternoon thunderstorms.

Orange and yellow pollen coming in all yards. Loosestrife and goldenrod is blooming. Bees are on wildflowers and loosestrife but don't see them on the goldenrod yet.

1 swarm reported last week.

All hives are starting to loose weight but not really significant yet. Made sure all my watering points are in place to support the hot and drier weather. Ordered 6 queens for nucs that I will build up next week when they arrive. One hive has a capped supercedure cell and no sign of eggs so will need to check in 3 weeks to make sure everything is good. One other hive has rejected the new queen and is now queenless and has no brood. Am debating whether to do a newspaper combine or to give them one of the new queens with a frame or two of open brood but will have to see... Some signs of light robbing so will be reducing entrances and putting on robbing screens next week. One hive had a mite bomb with a significant change in mite drop from last week so gave them Apivar. Extracted the spring honey taken last week and put the wets back on the weakest hives.


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## wildbranch2007

Bob J said:


> Extracted the spring honey taken last week and put the wets back on the weakest hives.


why the weakest hives? I would usually put them on the stronger hives to be refilled, thx


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## Bob J

wildbranch2007 said:


> why the weakest hives? I would usually put them on the stronger hives to be refilled, thx


If there was a good flow I would do that but right now it's not happening so decided to give my weaker hives a boost... Some are pretty light and my yards are losing weight and showing signs of going into dearth.... I may or may not get a boost from the sweet pepperbush but depending on how things play out I may need to spread some honey frames from my stronger hives to my weaker hives....


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## kaizen

Wondering what to expect this summer/fall. I'm seeing blooming goldenrod all over the place. Not sure if its the one bees like. I still have wet frames so something is coming in although its not a full flow. predictions are for hotter then average aug-sept. Have we ever had a goldenrod flow this early and then a dearth before winter? I noticed a goldenrod smell a week ago but nothing like that smell now in the hives.


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## Scitfrostbite

Here in MetroWest that early smaller goldenrod is just starting to show. It's the variety that seems to be ignored by the bees. Bees are on knapweed in the meadows and Joe Pye buds are close to opening up. No signs of buds on the Japanese Knotweed as you might expect this early.


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## Cloverdale

wildbranch2007 said:


> why the weakest hives? I would usually put them on the stronger hives to be refilled, thx


Hi Wildbranch, why not the weaker one that has less? And did you get your last sample in for BeeWellness? I sent mine in two weeks ago. Still having a flow up here, thought it was slowing down but more plants for the bees are blooming. Record year here for honey so far.


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## wildbranch2007

Cloverdale said:


> Hi Wildbranch, why not the weaker one that has less? And did you get your last sample in for BeeWellness? I sent mine in two weeks ago. Still having a flow up here, thought it was slowing down but more plants for the bees are blooming. Record year here for honey so far.


This early up here I put it on the stronger one so it gets filled again. Record year for rain, but ya record year for honey too. I pulled over the NY average 55lbs per hive in July because I couldn't go any higher with supers, dropped an empty on each hive as I extracted, when done extracting went back to add more, the original box was already capped again and they were getting testy and honey bound, dropped on more and now I'm in the same boat as I was before I extracted, the top supers is partially full, all the one under it are full, and I can't go any higher again, tough to complain about too much honey, :lookout:I was trying to cut down this year. We did go into a quite period for the last week of rain, and the napp weed isn't as good in a wet year as a dry year, so I just have to check some of the brood boxes to see what to do for goldenrod and winter. keep the supers on.


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## MaineMike

Cool nights, warm days, both hives bringing in lots of yellow pollen, maybe from a very late planted corn field about 1/4 mile away. Meadow wildflowers starting 2nd wave of bloom with early GR and purple loosestrife. 1st supers are full and capped, added 2nd to both hive to give room. Seeing bees on all sorts of different flowers and weird things like grape jelly bird feeder, deck flowers, lawn clover, veggie blooms...

Stole one frame to crush and strain - yummy!


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## Cloverdale

wildbranch2007 said:


> This early up here I put it on the stronger one so it gets filled again. Record year for rain, but ya record year for honey too. I pulled over the NY average 55lbs per hive in July because I couldn't go any higher with supers, dropped an empty on each hive as I extracted, when done extracting went back to add more, the original box was already capped again and they were getting testy and honey bound, dropped on more and now I'm in the same boat as I was before I extracted, the top supers is partially full, all the one under it are full, and I can't go any higher again, tough to complain about too much honey, :lookout:I was trying to cut down this year. We did go into a quite period for the last week of rain, and the napp weed isn't as good in a wet year as a dry year, so I just have to check some of the brood boxes to see what to do for goldenrod and winter. keep the supers on.


We too, record year so far for honey; it seemed they capped everything at once and we were scrambling for empty supers. My husband and I have our own hives, he bought a nuc in May and is producing so much honey we are taking it. They still have plenty for Winter. As for flowers record year for variety. A plant started growing in the gully next to the road and it's a wild orchid (helleborine).


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## Bob J

Cool nights and warm days this past week. Nighttime lows ranged from 60 to 69F and daytime highs from 76 to 86F. 3 days of measurable rain with rainfall for the month (Aug) at 0.96" and YTD at 22.81". Rainfall primarily is from late afternoon thunderstorms.

Yellow pollen coming in all yards. Sweet Pepperbush, Loosestrife and goldenrod is blooming. 

No swarms reported last week.

Built 6 nucs last week with the new queens and now am waiting until next weekend to see how they are doing. Had one exciting moment when I saw one of my most productive hive queens walking up the side of the hive trying to get back in. Thankfully was not harmed and now back where she should be. 

Hive inspections showed almost no stores of pollen in nearly all hives. This really caught me by surprise since there is plenty of evidence of pollen foraging on the bottom board and at the front entrance. Put pollen patties on all hives and nucs and will check the uptake next week. With the regular rain I expected that pollen would be plentiful but apparently they are operating "hand to mouth".

Several frames of uncapped nectar and white wax showing in most hives but no significant weight gain.

Will also check the supercedure hive to see how they are doing. Have purposely left them off the inspection schedule so am hoping that the new queen will be back and laying.

No signs of robbing yet but have entrance reducers and/or robbing screens on all my weaker hives just in case.

Unfortunately my "neverwet shim" solution now seems to have failed in Weymouth (my worst yard for hive beetles) as there are some hive beetles now in those hives. Will install beetle traps during next weeks inspections. Was hoping that this was the "final solution" for the buggers but even though it was a marked improvement from last year it still is not perfect. 

New queens are doing great with a marked turnaround in most of the requeened hives. Newspaper combined the one hive that did not take.

Mite drops are starting to spike in a number of hives. Put Apivar in all hives without honey supers. 42 days will take me well into September so am hoping this will clear the decks of the mites before we get most of our winter bees as well as provide some protection from "mite bomb" collapsing hives in the region.

Found one tick crawling on my wife's inspection jacket and found another on the side of one of the supers. We permethrin spray our shoes/socks and pant legs well above the level of the grass near the hives but these buggers would have gotten past that. Really have to be careful going forward....


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## kaizen

My outyards are in tall grass so I actually suit up and spray myself before getting there. Grab the highest DEET percent and it doesn't seem to matter. they ticks just crawl right over it. I want the stuff I put on my dog. Sick of being paranoid about these things. pretty much shaved my head this year as I have had so many on me. when I get home I either hang my suit on the truck or right in the dryer for an hour to kill any hiding.

i'm seeing dark nectar come in like goldenrod but not much pollen. Also no golden stink so not sure if that's it. 

too bad about the beatles. interested if it was a total failure or maybe stops 90 percent of them?


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## Cloverdale

Our honey bee environment here is very similar. I was told that there are 3 goldenrods that bloom, the first 2 the bee's don't care that much about; the 3rd is the good one for nectar. I also am seeing pollen BUT they are way too short of stored bee bread. I hope that there are some better days regarding so much rain that they can get some stored. 

As for pollen and survival, this past winter when we had a nice "warmer" spell of weather the bee's were flying frantically and there was nothing out there for them to gather. I put out a plate of pollen and it was gone in a few hours, and I mean not one spec of pollen to be found. We fed them platefuls of pollen. I think that was part of the success we had in having all our hives overwinter on top of their good stores and insulation which works very well here. There were only six hives overwintering this past year due to AFB where we had to burn 11 hives, but still they made it.


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## Cloverdale

My point is that pollen is so very important, maybe playing the biggest role in them creating those fat winter bee's. Pollen patties only do so much nutritionally for them and of course they don't store that stuff.


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## Bob J

kaizen said:


> My outyards are in tall grass so I actually suit up and spray myself before getting there. Grab the highest DEET percent and it doesn't seem to matter. they ticks just crawl right over it. I want the stuff I put on my dog. Sick of being paranoid about these things. pretty much shaved my head this year as I have had so many on me. when I get home I either hang my suit on the truck or right in the dryer for an hour to kill any hiding.
> 
> i'm seeing dark nectar come in like goldenrod but not much pollen. Also no golden stink so not sure if that's it.
> 
> too bad about the beatles. interested if it was a total failure or maybe stops 90 percent of them?


They worked awesome up until last weeks inspection.... At this time last year I had hives completely overrun in that yard.... Hive Beetles are around because I would see their larva on the bottom board slider when I do my weekly check but up until this weekend nothing in the hives... I still consider neverwet shims an awesome weapon against the buggers but clearly is not perfect... Am thinking with the beetle blasters added I should be back in business... Was just hoping to avoid those as they are a pain when I am working the supers...:-(


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## Bob J

Cloverdale said:


> Our honey bee environment here is very similar. I was told that there are 3 goldenrods that bloom, the first 2 the bee's don't care that much about; the 3rd is the good one for nectar. I also am seeing pollen BUT they are way too short of stored bee bread. I hope that there are some better days regarding so much rain that they can get some stored.
> 
> As for pollen and survival, this past winter when we had a nice "warmer" spell of weather the bee's were flying frantically and there was nothing out there for them to gather. I put out a plate of pollen and it was gone in a few hours, and I mean not one spec of pollen to be found. We fed them platefuls of pollen. I think that was part of the success we had in having all our hives overwinter on top of their good stores and insulation which works very well here. There were only six hives overwintering this past year due to AFB where we had to burn 11 hives, but still they made it.


I have seen the same thing with Goldenrod in my yards.... Goldenrod is out but the bees are ignoring it.... Later in the season it's a completely different story... It being a different variety makes sense....

So sorry to hear about the AFB.... Glad you were able to at least save the 6 hives!


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## Cloverdale

Bob J said:


> I have seen the same thing with Goldenrod in my yards.... Goldenrod is out but the bees are ignoring it.... Later in the season it's a completely different story... It being a different variety makes sense....
> 
> So sorry to hear about the AFB.... Glad you were able to at least save the 6 hives!


Yes yes....thank you. We are up to 15 which is our limit. A friend came home to a double swarm in June and gave it to us. What a gift!


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## Bob J

Cloverdale said:


> Yes yes....thank you. We are up to 15 which is our limit. A friend came home to a double swarm in June and gave it to us. What a gift!
> View attachment 34874


Very nice!


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## Bob J

Got a call for a bee tree that a local tree company ran into during a removal... When I got there found out that the colony had been sprayed with bifentherine. The reaction at site was pretty much what you would have expected with the vast majority of them dead or dying....:-(

From the size and age of the comb it was pretty obvious this was a long established colony....


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## NewbeeInNH

Well, it's nice to know there are feral colonies thriving out there...

I hope you used this as a teaching opportunity.......


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Well, it's nice to know there are feral colonies thriving out there...
> 
> I hope you used this as a teaching opportunity.......


Unfortunately only the homeowner was there when we arrived..... Good thing too as I was not in the greatest of moods..... Pretty stupid move by folks that should have known better!


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## NewbeeInNH

Maybe we could invite some beekeepers to send that company free instructional information on honeybees.


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## Mefco

Anybody getting any honey out there? Crappy year in Blackstone valley...


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## VickyLynn

No, not much honey here in the Monadnock Region. I have four production hives and twelve nukes. Not planning on taking anything from the nucs, but I thought I would get a reasonable amount from the big hives. I am concerned about them having enough for winter after last year's horrible fall flow.


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## nediver

Mefco said:


> Anybody getting any honey out there? Crappy year in Blackstone valley...


It's one of the better years I can remember fir not just making honey but also making bees. 
Strong hives are crushing it this year. I've pulled 100+ off my biggest colonies.


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## Scitfrostbite

Not sure if you are asking about late summer flow ramping up now or this whole season. But, I have harvested 5gals from 2 of 4 hives and left a lot in there. Most of the honey came early (late Apr, May, early June). 

Things look/seem promising for a Fall flow here in Metrowest because of ample rains so far- JoePye starting to bloom, buds on Knotwood, early GR full on, etc. This after clover, napwood, etc offered some action over the past month though not much weight added.


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## Bob J

Mixed results where my yards are so far... Marshfield and Rockland hives did fair with the spring flow but nothing in Weymouth and Needham... In fairness this was a rebuilding year for me after the problems of last fall so didn't expect much. Have been focused on building up for next year...

BTW, knotweed is starting to bloom.....;-)


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## nediver

Awesome update on knotweed. I haven't spotted any.

Have you guys seen much robbing this year. I ran a few wide open all year and no problems. Def not like last year. My weaker hives are reduced only. I don't own screens.


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## kaizen

I haven't seen any robbing even on little nucs sitting next to big 5 box hives. I'm thinking because they have had forage resources all year without stop. I've harvested 10 gallons from hives started as packages in spring. Now seems like we're going to go right into fall flow without a dearth. I normally treat during the dearth so now i'll have to start treating oa with the supers off I guess. Also a build year for me and i'm happy with the results so far. After last years disaster i'm hesitant to jinks myself.


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## Bob J

Cool nights and warm days this past week. Nighttime lows ranged from 61 to 70F and daytime highs from 72 to 85F. 2 days of measurable rain with rainfall for the month (Aug) at 1.11" and YTD at 22.96". 

Predominately Yellow pollen coming in all yards. Sweet Pepperbush, Loosestrife and goldenrod is blooming. Knotweed is just starting.

1 swarm reported last week.

Checked the new nucs and all seems well. Queens are all doing well and patterns are good. 

Supercedure hive is still not showing signs of eggs/larva. This was day 10 after finding the capped queen cell. Will give them another week and check again. Hive is calm so am thinking she's just a bit slow getting mated.

Hive beetles are much less in the hives I reported as a problem last week. Installed beetle blasters just in case but it seems the girls are clearing the beetles out. Was treated to a great demonstration which made me wish I had my phone ready to record... When opening to inspect I released a beetle and it started scurrying across the top of a frame only to be jumped on by one of the girls... She grabbed it and rolled on her side exposing the beetles soft underside which was quickly attacked by two other bees. Very quick and reactive and makes me feel that they are managing the situation.

Hives still are showing almost no stored pollen despite lots of pollen being brought in on the landing board. Pollen patties I put in last week are being consumed at a rate similar to what I see in the spring. Several stronger hives have completely consumed the patty with nothing left but a few crumbs... 

Mites are starting to spike with the stronger hives showing a noticeable increase in mite drop over last week. All hives and nucs without supers now have Apivar and treated one strong hive with OAV. Two more hives are scheduled for OAV this week.

Signs of a good flow in Marshfield and Rockland this week. Average weight gain for the strong hives is 12 pounds.


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## Scitfrostbite

Returned supers starting to show some nectar here in Hopkinton. Bees are all over Joe Pye weed blooms and Goldenrod in the local fields right now. Bee are busy and calm unlike this time last year.


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## Bob J

Cool nights and warm days this past week. Nighttime lows ranged from 63 to 70F and daytime highs from 72 to 82F. 1 day of measurable rain with rainfall for the month (Aug) at 1.13" and YTD at 22.98". Big storm pushed through Friday but passed well north of us and also hit the cape but missed my yards...

Knotweed, Joe Pye, Sweet Pepperbush, Loosestrife and goldenrod are blooming. 

1 swarm reported last week.

Was out of town for most of the week and did not get a chance to check my hives this week. Will update after I get a chance to check next weekend.


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## camero7

My latest on the JB700...

After doing 2 rounds of my hives... 
1. I'm happy with the improvements.
2. It's faster than the wands
3. I carry a flat blade screwdriver and clean the residue between loads.
4. Cools quickly if you leave the blower on while cleaning the residue.
5. Getting lots of vapor and it's coming out every seam of the hive.
6. I've settled on doing 2 hives, cleaning, reloading and moving on to the next 2.
7 OA is cheap and I don't mind using more than necessary to get a good cover of the hives.
8 I'm using 4 scoops for 2 hives... could do one more but I want a good mite kill. Never have had a problem with using too much OA vapor

I can now say that I recommend this product for small sideliners.


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## camero7

Forgot to add that it's not that bad a battery user. I can do 20+ hives with my booster [pictured] and still have a charge left, haven't tried to do more because don't have yard bigger than that.


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## kaizen

Thanks Cam. I'm up to 20 hives and haven't treated yet this year. Going to start the rounds tomorrow and dreading it.  They are still bringing in nectar in some yards so i'll have to separate the hives before oav. just such a pain. really like the idea of the one you use just don't like the price. only 2 hives look wonky so i'm pretty sure i'm ok as they are still building.  great year for me in my yards so far. plenty of weight in the deeps so hoping for only a little feeding is needed.  I actually have 8 gallons of feed in the fridge and 7 in the freezer.  I mixed it up for queen rearing which failed miserably so I put it in the cold to keep till needed.


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## Bob J

Was starting to feel like fall this past week. Nighttime lows ranged from 60 to 71F and daytime highs from 75 to 90F. 1 day of measurable rain with rainfall for the month (Aug) at 1.17" and YTD at 23.02".  The lawn is starting to turn brown so things are definitely dry but thankfully nothing like last year.

Predominately yellow and orange pollen coming in all yards. Loosestrife, Joe Pye and goldenrod are blooming. Sweet Pepperbush is done and most of the knotweed is done as well.

3 swarms reported last week.

Checked the new nucs and all seems well. Queens are all doing well and patterns are good. 

Mite drops continue to spike and several (Carni) queens have stopped laying.  Pulled honey supers from the production hives and treated high mite counts with OAV.  Reduced entrances of those hives without robber screens to the smallest opening and put feed cans on the lightest hives and those hives where the queens have stopped laying to promote brood rearing.  Did a newspaper combine of the three weakest hives.  Will give them a couple of weeks and then start feeding to build up to winter weight...


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## camero7

I expect those swarms are varroa driven, be aware if they move into one of your hives, mite bombs.

Purple looestrief now being ignored by bees here, mostly done. Joe Pye and Goldenrod going strong. Not seeing asters yet.

Will start my 3rd round of OAV Wednesday.... I treat all hives in August regardless of mite counts. I find it works well and there is no reason for me to change. My mite counts a couple weeks ago were pretty good. Quit those Carni queens a couple of years ago. Get much better production from my Italians and winter survival is about the same for me.


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## kaizen

I've started combining hives and adding mouse gaurds. Will be adding robber screens this week. These 50 degree nights are beginning to worry me regarding feeding. Going to start taking some weights and feed as my supers just aren't being filled so I won't be harvesting any more this year. 
Tons of pollen coming in which is a good thing. Orange yellow and beige.


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## camero7

cool nights and warm days make for a good goldenrod flow.


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## Scitfrostbite

Knotweed just coming into full on bloom right now in Metrowest so I'm thinking of giving supers another week or two. Supers only about 1/3 full. Do you guys here in MA have a traditional cutoff date for supers in the Fall? 

Bees busy flying with purpose but still have one weak hive getting robbed, screen on. 

I look forward to your advice on Fall super removal suggestions.


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## kaizen

I harvested summer honey about a month ago. put them back on and they just don't seem to be filling the supers. They have capped around brood chamber and look to be flying with a purpose and nectar seen but not enough for me to think i'll harvest again. Last year I waited for the goldenrod and when I didn't get it I had to feed. They just never managed to take the feed in time before we got 30 degree temps. I'm seeing 40's on the forecast so i'm erring on the side of caution as I lost just about all of my hives last year. I'm feeding soon to get them up to weight.


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## Bob J

Scitfrostbite said:


> Knotweed just coming into full on bloom right now in Metrowest so I'm thinking of giving supers another week or two. Supers only about 1/3 full. Do you guys here in MA have a traditional cutoff date for supers in the Fall?
> 
> Bees busy flying with purpose but still have one weak hive getting robbed, screen on.
> 
> I look forward to your advice on Fall super removal suggestions.


For me a lot depends on the specific situation I see in each hive/yard.... Hard to do this to a calendar except in the broadest sense as every year/hive/yard is different.... Where I am the main flows appear to be done except for goldenrod.... I have no interest in harvesting goldenrod and leave that for the girls to support the build up to winter weight... This means I pull the supers so that any stores build up will be in the upper deep where it will be best placed for them.... I also need to make sure that the queens laying to support the conversion to winter bees.... This means feeding those hives that don't have eggs/larva.... I have mostly Carni's so if there is no flow the queens often shut down... No supers also helps ensure I don't take a chance with getting adulterated honey... I also need to make sure that the brood nest does not become honey bound so I have to be careful that there is always space available so I check regularly and rotate frames as needed to minimize the chance of late season swarms... 

Hopefully this makes sense.... Difficult to put up a hard and fast rule as every situation may be different... A lot of what I try and do is focused on understanding what the girls are trying to do and doing what I can to support that... Right now it is more the need to build up for winter than it is to try and get the last drops of honey.... Hopefully this makes sense.....


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## camero7

Well, yesterday I was treating with the JB. I finished the row of hives and was running the blower to cool it down. Heard 2 loud clicks and the blower quit working. still heats up ok, but this is almost the final straw for me. I have over $500 invested in this with rebuilding, postage, etc. Would have made a good down payment on a vm. Disgusted


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## kaizen

sorry to hear that Cam. 

Went out to a yard i'm having game trouble with to retrieve some pictures.....didn't have it at the right angle. grrrr
Anyway amazing amount of activity. Definitely still on a flow. Tons of yellow pollen coming in like it was spring. I'm going to have to check their supers to make sure they are not full. Glad I didn't start feeding yet.

edit. To add to that just checked my home hives. They are drawing comb, laying, and filling with nectar as soon as the cell is partially formed. Not as much pollen as my other yard but some. bees are definitely on a strong flow in southern nh. Doesn't look like i'll be feeding this year. Never saw a stop in brood either this year. Wish this was a splitting year for me and not a rebuilding year. i'd have tons of nucs for spring.


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## camero7

Waited for Ron to respond before I did anything. He suggested that I check the fan for obstruction. When I pulled the end off a fan blade had broken off and locked the fan [must have been a defective fan because there was nothing else in there to have caused it. Waiting for word from Ron on next step. Looks like the fan is cemented in and it will be a job to remove and replace.


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## Bob J

Sorry to hear Cam... Hopefully they will get it fixed soon... At least it seems like you are getting good support and they are working with you to get the bugs out....


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## Bob J

Definite feel of fall this last week. Nighttime lows ranged from 51 to 60F and daytime highs from 65 to 76F. 2 days of measurable rain with rainfall for the month (Sept) at 0.14" and YTD at 23.26". 

Predominately yellow and orange pollen coming in all yards. Goldenrod is blooming and the occasional patch of knotweed.

3 swarms reported last week.

All yards are losing weight (approx. 7 lbs) with the exception of Needham which had an average gain of 21lbs. Looks like I will need to combine two more hives so will put that on the list to do this weekend. Have decided to abandon the Weymouth yard. Too much maintenance and no honey for the second year in a row.


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## camero7

good flow going in all 3 yards... seems like many less asters this year, maybe the drought last year?


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## NewbeeInNH

camero7 said:


> good flow going in all 3 yards... seems like many less asters this year, maybe the drought last year?


That's what I've noticed. Where are the asters? I'm thinking it was the drought last summer. Lotta goldenrod tho. Next few days supposed to be 80+ so their nectar should be flowing I think. Still, I put sugar syrup on the hives yesterday.


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## nediver

Hey guys - I messaged awhile back about a failing hive in an outyard. They were really weak and spotty and not the same as the bees next to it. This was July. I inspected once in August and saw my note from July "Weak need feed". In August I decided I need to treat and feed. Well here we are in Sept. I have done none of that. My plan was to move the hives back home for rehab.

I get a call from the yard owner. She says the bees are all over her yard, flying around confused and agitated. Landing on places where there are no flowers. The weak hive is being taken over and robbed out now.

I am going tonight to move them. I have OAV and will treat (this was recommendation of this group in July - :0)


Besides the piss poor beekeeping on my part - any watchout for me that I should consider. Should I shake out the failing hive or paper combine the two hives from that yard?


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## Bob J

Lots of variable temps this past week. Nighttime lows ranged from 56 to 66F and daytime highs from 69 to 87F. 4 days of measurable rain with rainfall for the month (Sept) at 0.61" and YTD at 23.73". 

Predominately yellow and orange pollen coming in all yards. Goldenrod is blooming and the occasional patch of knotweed.

1 swarm reported last week.

Rockland and Marshfield are showing a light flow with Rockland gaining 6# and Marshfield +3# on average. Needham lost 5# on average. Weymouth is down to one hive as I combined the remaining 2 hives. Will move this hive to another yard and abandon Weymouth as an outyard. This is my hive beetle yard (though not a problem this year) but as a yard it has struggled 2 years in a row so will save myself a commute and focus on my 3 remaining productive yards. Cluster temps are dropping below the brood rearing band (90F) on the production hives that I wasn't feeding so will have to think about feeding those to stimulate brood rearing as we continue to roll through September. Satisfying mite drop in the production hives I treated with OAV last week. Will continue to monitor each week and treat as required. Extracted the supers I pulled last week and put them on the Needham hives to clean up. Triggered a brief spell of robbing but with the entrances all reduced to the minimum opening and generous applications of smoke they soon lost interest. 

BTW if you want to check my hive weight/cluster temps at any time you can do it here:
http://www.beecounted.org/

My hives are the ones in Marshfield, Rockland and Needham. If you click on the associated icon you can see the last update and if you click on an individual hive you can see the hourly trend....


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## Bob J

nediver said:


> Hey guys - I messaged awhile back about a failing hive in an outyard. They were really weak and spotty and not the same as the bees next to it. This was July. I inspected once in August and saw my note from July "Weak need feed". In August I decided I need to treat and feed. Well here we are in Sept. I have done none of that. My plan was to move the hives back home for rehab.
> 
> I get a call from the yard owner. She says the bees are all over her yard, flying around confused and agitated. Landing on places where there are no flowers. The weak hive is being taken over and robbed out now.
> 
> I am going tonight to move them. I have OAV and will treat (this was recommendation of this group in July - :0)
> 
> 
> Besides the piss poor beekeeping on my part - any watchout for me that I should consider. Should I shake out the failing hive or paper combine the two hives from that yard?


Sorry to hear about the robbing... Definitely seems to be the season for that... I would consider combining if the hive is not very strong... Most of the ones I've been combining only have 4 deep frames of bees or so.... At that size am thinking it's a toss up whether they will make it through the winter so will take my losses now... Also gives me an opportunity to get rid of the queens that really don't seem to be up to the task....

As for the mites I would recommend you check ASAP... If you are seeing more than 3% or so you need to treat as soon as possible... This is a critical time as the hives are turning over to winter bees and starting to consolidate for winter... With less brood the mites that have built up all summer will hammer the remaining brood and your hives will be at risk of collapse... Temps are supposed to be pretty good this week so all your treatment options should be available.


----------



## NewbeeInNH

Is anyone feeding yet besides me?

Loving these bonus 80F days.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Is anyone feeding yet besides me?
> 
> Loving these bonus 80F days.


I am in all my smaller hives that are building up for next year.... Most are in the 60-70# range so have a ways to go before winter sets in.... Waited too long last year so am biting the bullet and building those hives now so they can take advantage of the warmer weather to cure... Also feeding my late season nucs to build them up to a decent weight to overwinter... The production hives in two yards still have a shot at a fall flow so have held off on those to avoid contaminating the honey but am thinking unless something picks up I will pull supers and feed them as well....


----------



## nediver

Bob - right there with you on the feeding and the combining. 

Will report back.


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## amirbay

Bob J said:


> My hives are the ones in Marshfield, Rockland and Needham.


Bob, lot of useful data on that site. But I do not see any apiary in Rockland. Meanwhile there are 2 apiaries in Needham. Is yours with 4 hives?


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## amirbay

Bob J said:


> My hives are the ones in Marshfield, Rockland and Needham.


Bob, lot of useful data on that site. But I do not see any apiary in Rockland. Meanwhile there are 2 apiaries in Needham. Is yours with 4 hives?


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## Bob J

amirbay said:


> Bob, lot of useful data on that site. But I do not see any apiary in Rockland. Meanwhile there are 2 apiaries in Needham. Is yours with 4 hives?


I know... The data is an extract from the beekeeping.io site which I find very useful to monitor the performance of my various hives... The linked site was designed by the broodminder folks to allow the public to be able to be able to see what is happening locally. There is an option on the parent site which allows my data to flow to the public site so if you don't want to share you don't have to. I usually refresh and upload my data weekly when I make the rounds so my sites should remain fairly current....

I've found the cluster temperature and hive weight to be the most beneficial to having insight into what is going on.... Cluster temperature tells me when the hive is brooding as well as a general indicator of the colony size as well as a good passive indicator on queen activity... Essentially, the less the "wiggle" in the line the stronger the colony... Hive weight is pretty self explanatory... Because the data is logged hourly you can easily see exactly when flows start/stop as well as things like general stores consumption trends... All this really helps me understand what is going on in each hive... This is particularly helpful in the early spring and now in the fall when the colony is particularly vulnerable....

Checked the Rockland site data and it turns out I had the wrong zip code entered. That is how the site knows where my apiary is so the next time they do a data refresh Rockland should be there....

My apiary in Needham is the one currently with 4 hives. The other site is actually one of my mentees....;- )


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## Bob J

My Rockland outyard is up on the site now but oddly not near where Rockland is geographically.... More close to Boston but at least it's up now.....;- )


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## Scitfrostbite

In Hopk- Tons of bright yellow pollen coming in all of a sudden. GR smell around hives. Bees calm and flying with purpose. In the last 7-10 days a new late GR bloom happened in meadows nearby. Knotweed still producing. Third OAV this weekend, will get a check of supers then.

Two very honey bound triple deep hives, will require some extraction I think for winter brood.

Bear attack last night to nearby hive.


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## Bob J

Scitfrostbite said:


> In Hopk- Tons of bright yellow pollen coming in all of a sudden. GR smell around hives. Bees calm and flying with purpose. In the last 7-10 days a new late GR bloom happened in meadows nearby. Knotweed still producing. Third OAV this weekend, will get a check of supers then.
> 
> Two very honey bound triple deep hives, will require some extraction I think for winter brood.
> 
> Bear attack last night to nearby hive.


Sorry to hear about the bear.... Was the hive yours?


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## Scitfrostbite

Hive was not mine but it was less than a mile from me. Hit hives two nights in a row now. 

State says be ready for more bear sightings in Metrowest, bear population on the rise.


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## NewbeeInNH

Wow, is this late goldenrod bloom nice. Not many asters here, but a ton of goldenrod. I saw bees with bright yellow but also with orange today. Not sure if the orange is also goldenrod or something else.


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## kaizen

Orange has got to be something else. Nothing that color on goldenrod. my bees just won't use supers. Its really pissing me off. They will pack the brood chamber to capacity and shut down the queen before moving up and drawing the supers out. Same thing happened in the spring. I actually had to add deeps on a few just so they would not swarm. and of course they drew and filled it nice so I have a couple three deep hives which I really am sick of lifting off for inspections. This has been a great season for the bees. most are strong colonies and populations increasing with full frames of brood. even though I started treating i'm not seeing much mite activity. I do see the moths flying around a lot. My kids dog have taken a liken to chasing and chomping them. good boy


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## NewbeeInNH

Moths have been terrible here, but it's mostly my fault, I left the deadouts in the yard, nowhere really to store them. Yesterday I took one apart to paint some pieces, and there were cocoons everywhere. I scraped them all out and hope the rain last night finished them off. I hate those things. They ruined the wax in there. I knew that was likely but like I said, I just didn't have the space to store them, altho I could have done a better job blocking any and all entrances. But in the meantime, the other colonies robbed out the honey (it was sugar syrup honey) and I wanted them to do that. So I was wishy washy about it.

Yeah. The orange. Hmm. Maybe black eyed susans?

kaizen, are you hoping the bees will draw out comb now? I don't think that's likely to happen. It's too chilly and I think it's the wrong time of year. If that's what you meant.


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## Bob J

Terrence, I find it almost impossible to get them to draw out frames this time of year.... 

As for the pollen color, attached is a chart that might be of help in identifying it... On my walks I try and notice what pollen the girls are carrying when they are on specific plants.... The yellow is definitely goldenrod but the orange still has eluded me.... From the attached chart am thinking it might be tansy but will have to have a sighting to confirm...

Edit: It may also be hosta.... Lots of that in the neighborhood.... Will keep an eye out....


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## NewbeeInNH

We've got orange coneflowers here, I wonder if it could be those. (Oh. I guess that's the same thing or almost the same thing as the black eyed susans.)


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## kaizen

Its definitely a vibrant orange. Regarding drawing and supers. I don't have many drawn just foundation....well I expanded so mostly undrawn. All spring/summer I was fighting to keep them from packing the brood chamber when there was empty or checkerboard supers above them. I actually was removing fully capped deep frames at any place in the brood area and putting in empty deep frames with foundation and they would draw and fill them no problem but not touch the supers just above. on a few I was inserting supers into the brood chamber out of desperation. A week ago I still had hives packing it in and drawing on deep foundation but not the supers.....so they are drawing the end deep frames before touching the supers. its nuts. hoping they have done some work on them in the last 3 weeks. I'm not going to harvest so I've just been doing oav without opening them.


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## Ramona

A bear at my Ware yard knocked down 6 of my 5 frame deep x 2, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. A witness saw the bear chomping on a brood comb at around 6:15 am Tuesday. I lost about 10 combs.

I camped out in my car at the hives last night and will again tonight with super powerful flashlight and metal bowl and spoon to make a racket if he comes back.

Bear fence goes up tomorrow. I'll check the afflicted hives and see how many queens were munched and who needs to be combined. 

Saw my first asters this week in Fitchburg (small/white) and Leominster (big/purple).

All yards from Fitchburg to Palmer are hauling in pollen and nectar and smell like "stinky buttersocks".

On bear patrol at 4 this morning I could hear some of the hives roaring as they were processing nectar. By daylight all had quieted down.

Bear season opened this week. I heard a shot down yonder at around 6:45 am today. Wonder if someone got my bear.


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## clyderoad

When I watch the bees on goldenrod the pollen they are collecting here is orange. Quite a contrast to the color of
the flowers. I have no idea of the variety of goldenrod but it's the tall later blooming plant.


----------



## MaineMike

Me too, lots or orange pollen here with meadow full of GR behind hives, butterscotch aroma, 2nd OAV treatment to be done today, but Terrence, I have the opposite problem, both deeps full of capped brood, with only rim of capped honey surrounding, but my med supers are chuck full. I posted in another thread about my worries of wintering in 2 deeps and how to have them move honey down into deeps.... I partitioned supers last w/inner cover,we'll see what it looks like today... bees bearding this AM, humid and soggy here.

Mike


----------



## kaizen

MaineMike said:


> Me too, lots or orange pollen here with meadow full of GR behind hives, butterscotch aroma, 2nd OAV treatment to be done today, but Terrence, I have the opposite problem, both deeps full of capped brood, with only rim of capped honey surrounding, but my med supers are chuck full. I posted in another thread about my worries of wintering in 2 deeps and how to have them move honey down into deeps.... I partitioned supers last w/inner cover,we'll see what it looks like today... bees bearding this AM, humid and soggy here.
> 
> Mike


How is that a problem? You mean they don't have a lot of honey stored? can you add more supers and then if they don't fill the deeps take one away so you'd have one deep and 4 or so supers?


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## Scitfrostbite

I've got the honey bound deeps problem too this season, worse than ever before. I've tried twice to swap out with some empty frames only to have them just fill them before even one egg can be laid. Theyre taking forever to fill supers.

My two triple 10 frame deeps are 1.5 to 2 deeps honey bound. But what's the point of extracting and replacing with the wet frames right now. So much pollen coming in, supers putting on some weight, and all the hives smell like GR. My thinking is to wait for GR to fade then extract some deeps for brood space.

Is the honey bound top deeps keeping them from the supers? Is this a common problem with triple 10 frame deeps?

I don't think I'll do three deeps again but that's what helped stop the swarms in these exploding hives this season.


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## kaizen

I would understand if my hives didn't have any drawn super frames to entice them up but I put at least 2 in each super this spring. Now in the FALL my bees are drawing a lot of new wax on every deep but not anything more on supers. the queens are roaming the whole hive dropping eggs in any cell they can still which is good but this honey bound issue is aggravating when I see others with 3 and 4 supers. 
Just did some inspections. Wish I had more queens on hand to requeen a few questionable colonies. still packing in pollen yellow and some orange. goldenrod is really bright color in the fields right now. Still bringing in nectar and processing it. Like I said several hives drawing new wax and filling as they go.


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## Bob J

Lots of variable temps again this past week. Nighttime lows ranged from 57 to 68F and daytime highs from 73 to 84F. 3 days of measurable rain with rainfall for the month (Sept) at 0.96" and YTD at 24.08". Next couple of days will have the remnants of Jose.

Predominately yellow and orange pollen coming in all yards. Goldenrod is blooming and wild (white) asters. Definite goldenrod smell in all my yards.

1 swarm reported last week.

Needham is showing a good flow (+14# Avg) but other yards are pretty much flat. All hives are building up nicely.


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## Bob J

Ramona said:


> A bear at my Ware yard knocked down 6 of my 5 frame deep x 2, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. A witness saw the bear chomping on a brood comb at around 6:15 am Tuesday. I lost about 10 combs.
> 
> I camped out in my car at the hives last night and will again tonight with super powerful flashlight and metal bowl and spoon to make a racket if he comes back.
> 
> Bear fence goes up tomorrow. I'll check the afflicted hives and see how many queens were munched and who needs to be combined.
> 
> Saw my first asters this week in Fitchburg (small/white) and Leominster (big/purple).
> 
> All yards from Fitchburg to Palmer are hauling in pollen and nectar and smell like "stinky buttersocks".
> 
> On bear patrol at 4 this morning I could hear some of the hives roaring as they were processing nectar. By daylight all had quieted down.
> 
> Bear season opened this week. I heard a shot down yonder at around 6:45 am today. Wonder if someone got my bear.


Sorry to hear about the bear Ramona! Hopefully they did get it!


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## DaisyNJ

clyderoad said:


> When I watch the bees on goldenrod the pollen they are collecting here is orange. Quite a contrast to the color of
> the flowers. I have no idea of the variety of goldenrod but *it's the tall later blooming plant*.


I dont know as much as you know, but this may be of some help. https://garden.org/learn/articles/view/241/


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## MaineMike

Sorry about the misinterpretation Terrence, I meant they do have a full honey super, they do have lots of honey stored upstairs, they haven't put much down below, my lowers aren't honey bound like yours.


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## kaizen

I'll be interested to see what they have done in the last few weeks. i'll be bringing feeders with me as i'm thinking the flow has slowed. Not seeing vibrant goldenrod anymore. This year i'm leaving all goldenrod and not manipulating the hives at all. Letting them make the decisions. 
Mike i'd say to start feeding imo. nights are getting cold. not sure how much longer this great year will last. Going to be warm for a few days coming up at least.


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## VickyLynn

DaisyNJ said:


> I dont know as much as you know, but this may be of some help. https://garden.org/learn/articles/view/241/


We wary of hybrids of both goldenrod and aster. They are bred for flower size and color, but often they no longer produce pollen or nectar. Sunflowers have especially been hybridized to eliminate pollen, so it doesn't mess up your dining room table when in an arrangement, lol.

Good, old fashion weed goldenrod is the best, the late, tall variety being the most preferred.


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## Spysar

One of my hives drew out(new wax foundation) and filled a medium super and partially capped this past week and a half. Another hive I think swarmed late, and now I don't know if that hive even has a queen...but it still has lots of bees.


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## kaizen

All hives have the goldenrod stink. tons of foragers on all goldenrod I've seen. Probably one reason I haven't seen any robbing is due to the supply and demand. added some feed cans on small hives for added measure. most hives look a few weeks away from being set for winter. what a difference a year makes. Last year at this I was praying to the nectar gods for them to just eat my feed faster.


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## Bob J

Remnants of Jose off the coast this week kept the rain coming for most of the week. Nighttime lows ranged from 58 to 66F and daytime highs from 64 to 81F. 5 days of measurable rain with rainfall for the month (Sept) at 1.31" and YTD at 24.43". 

Goldenrod is still blooming and asters. 

No swarms reported last week.

Was out of town for the weekend so no hive updates this week.


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## wildbranch2007

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. —
A Massachusetts man attacked by a swarm of bees while doing yard work has died.

http://www.wcvb.com/article/massachusetts-man-dies-after-being-swarmed-by-bees/12475354

anybody have any more information?


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## Bob J

wildbranch2007 said:


> FOXBOROUGH, Mass. —
> A Massachusetts man attacked by a swarm of bees while doing yard work has died.
> 
> http://www.wcvb.com/article/massachusetts-man-dies-after-being-swarmed-by-bees/12475354
> 
> anybody have any more information?


Happened about a mile or so from where I work.... Will let you know if I hear anything!


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## Bob J

Our local club president contacted the reporter who did the original article and they said that they were nesting in the ground so it's probably yellow jackets...


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## Bob J

It's confirmed that it was yellow jackets from a close friend of the family.... Media around here is still showing pictures of honey bees in their reports....:-(


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## NewbeeInNH

Sorry about your bear visit, Ramona! It's always sickening to see that happen.

I think a swarm may have homed in one of my deadout hives. Today when I was walking past, I saw a bunch of bees buzzing at the entrance. My deadouts have stayed in the yard all summer, kinda hoping a swarm would move in, but none did. If this is a swarm rehoming, I'm not sure where it came from, or if it even came from my own yard. I don't want to open my hives at this point (I have 2) because they're hatching down pretty well sticking everything together with propolis in winter prep. But when I replace feed I'll try to get a feel for population, and after this possible swarm has gotten established I'll peek in there too just to see if they did move in, or if it was just a fluke. Any remnants of honey was stripped out of these hives long ago by foragers.

Wow, was that a beautiful 5 days of 80s. The bees got a huge bonus in feed, the asters did eventually come out and shined in all their white blossom glory. But now everything is dying off, chilly weather is on the doorstep, and I'll resume feeding, altho they may not pack anything away anymore. I believe they stop storing/processing syrup when it gets below -- ?? -- maybe 70s?


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## NewbeeInNH

Actually, now that I'm thinking about it... If a swarm did move into that deadout hive, and I think it did, whether it came from one of my hives or someone else's, it seems like the mother colony is going to have trouble getting a queen mated right now. No drones.

Does the hot summer weather we had fool the bees into thinking it's swarm time, or do they go by sunlight?

Anyway, I think I remember reading somewhere that a virgin queen can live in the colony all winter, and mate in the spring. Has anyone heard that?


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## Bob J

Terrence, I've always heard that the cut off for the girls to take syrup was around 50F.... I think that is the syrup temp and not necessarily the ambient so depending on how your feeding rig is set up you may be able to feed later.... I feed with gallon cans sitting on top of the frames and the mass and location tends to keep them warmer.... That my theory anyway....

Can't help with insight into the late season swarm... Don't know why they do that but here in the northern climate I would think it's pretty much the kiss of death... No pollen/nectar stores, not much blooming and for the virgin few (if any) drones... Interesting thought on whether she can overwinter and mate next spring... Hard to imagine that would be the case but even if so it would mean that the normal early buildup would not be able to take place until drones are flying....


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## kaizen

not me Bob....although I can see how easy it is to confuse as we're both snh. I concur with your temp assessment. Last year my hives were small and not much stores. They just weren't taking feed fast. Thought maybe if I kept it warm all the night they would take more. I bought and put in aquarium heaters in 3 hives at home. I used hive top feeders enclosed. No change in the take rate compared to nonheated ones. I put on feeders last week on light hives. Consequently I spilled a gallon in the truck bed and the activity confirmed there is most likely not much nectar out there. Trying to get robbing screens made and installed on small hives. Get the feeling i'm behind the 8 ball on that task. Cold last night. Its coming.


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## NewbeeInNH

You can call me anything, just don't call me late for dinner. LOL. (Otherwise, it's Jessica)

Well, this will be interesting. If it warms up enough today I'll lift the lid of that potential new hive and stick a quart jar of syrup in there if there are bees. If they are there and they do manage to make it till March, I can put a pollen patty in then, maybe that will suffice for early build up. But, first we'll see if they're even there.


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## Bob J

kaizen said:


> not me Bob....although I can see how easy it is to confuse as we're both snh. I concur with your temp assessment. Last year my hives were small and not much stores. They just weren't taking feed fast. Thought maybe if I kept it warm all the night they would take more. I bought and put in aquarium heaters in 3 hives at home. I used hive top feeders enclosed. No change in the take rate compared to nonheated ones. I put on feeders last week on light hives. Consequently I spilled a gallon in the truck bed and the activity confirmed there is most likely not much nectar out there. Trying to get robbing screens made and installed on small hives. Get the feeling i'm behind the 8 ball on that task. Cold last night. Its coming.


Wow! Sorry Terrence!


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## Bob J

Found this site which monitors the amount of rainfall and associated drought conditions.... Hard to believe with all the rain we've been getting but according to this there is still a drought where I am..... Eastern Mass is listed abnormally dry.....:-(

https://www.drought.gov/drought/

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/


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## NewbeeInNH

That is weird. It felt like a pretty soggy summer, or at least adequate rainfall. My area also appears to be abnormally dry, according to the map.


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## NewbeeInNH

Hmm. Well, never mind, there were bees in the hive but there were also still some spare "honey" (made from sugar syrup from last fall) frames, which is weird because they've been out there all summer, so I guess that's an indication that there were other sources available. Anyway, they didn't look clustered, they looked like opportunists, so I don't believe that was a swarm. There were a bunch of cocoons in there tho, naturally. I scraped those out and now I can't wait till the first hard frost.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Hmm. Well, never mind, there were bees in the hive but there were also still some spare "honey" (made from sugar syrup from last fall) frames, which is weird because they've been out there all summer, so I guess that's an indication that there were other sources available. Anyway, they didn't look clustered, they looked like opportunists, so I don't believe that was a swarm. There were a bunch of cocoons in there tho, naturally. I scraped those out and now I can't wait till the first hard frost.


Ah, probably for the best Jessica.... Cocoons are probably wax moths... I would try and freeze the frames or use Xentari to deal with them soon if you want to keep the comb in reasonably good shape....


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## NewbeeInNH

Yeah, definitely wax moths. I didn't have safe storage for the frames from the deadouts, so I just took chances and left them out there. I could have completely closed off the hives, altho the heat of summer may have melted the wax anyway... Storage is an issue, and storage without wax moths is an issue. What do commercial beeks do with all their equipment in deadouts, I wonder.


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## camero7

Here in the frozen north they won't be a problem until next June after the first hard freeze. Most just stack them. I put a cup of acetic acid at the top of the stack and cover.


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## kaizen

Yesterday the bees at my house got into everything. I had an old sugar syrup jug in a trash can that doesn't get used much and they went nuts over it. even chasing me off when I went to investigate the commotion. of course I had to mix up 40 gallons of syrup so that didn't help the chaos. definitely no nectar here. taped up some entrances till I can get the robber screens built tonight. Warm weather coming this week and no nectar are signs the robbing will commence. I actually haven't seen any all year in populated hives due to the constant resource availability.


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## Bob J

Roller coaster temp week. Nighttime lows ranged from 48 to 65F and daytime highs from 58 to 88F. 2 days of measurable rain with rainfall for the month (Oct) at 0.50" and YTD at 25.79". 

Goldenrod is still blooming and asters. Some yellow and orange pollen still coming in but much reduced from earlier in the season.

No swarms reported last week.

Hive compaction week. Compacted brood in lower deep and compacted honey in upper deep/medium. Removed/swapped out any frames not built out. Removed Apivar from treated hives (@6 weeks). Several hives throwing out drones but two of my strongest still supporting them. Feeding multiple cans of syrup to hives that are not to winter weight.


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## nediver

All my hives are super light. I am going to spend a lot on feeding.

I think any fall flow I had was hand/mouth feeding of winter bees. Between that and mite pressures I have concerns for winter survival.

Either I never get a fall flow or my management practices are such that I don't make a lot of fall honey.


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## Scitfrostbite

Nothing left for forage but some Montauk Daisies, got a couple of pics.

Extracted about 2 1/2 gallons from several supers left on honey bound hives. Top deeps on all hives solid honey. Nuc saw a lot of robbing pressure last couple of weeks, feeding brings on robbing, not feeding brings on worries of starvation. Mouse guards on. Will begin weighing hives this week and monitoring weights until cold sets in.


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## Bob J

Cool and rainy this week. Nighttime lows ranged from 49 to 63F and daytime highs from 67 to 78F. 4 days of measurable rain with rainfall for the month (Oct) at 0.97" and YTD at 26.26". 

Goldenrod is still blooming and asters. Some yellow and orange pollen still coming in.

No swarms reported last week.

Continuing to feed to weight this week. Hives that last week had drones are throwing them out. Had one nuc robbed out and now is a deadout. OAV treated all production hives. Had my first mite bomb of the season in one of my strong production hives. Natural mite drop went from 10 last week to 1000+ this week. Brooding temps have kicked in for almost all hives. I don't know if it was the hive consolidation I did last week or a natural trigger but the girls are definitely in winter prep mode. Had two hives that were very defensive and one stung my wife just over the eye. All I did was remove the entrance reducer to do my OAV and that was all it took to get them to take notice. Will have to be more careful going forward in the future.


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## clyderoad

Bob J: do you quickly back up the Amitraz treatment with OAV. Maybe I misunderstand your treatment schedule as it seems you just pulled the Apivar strips off.


----------



## Bob J

clyderoad said:


> Bob J: do you quickly back up the Amitraz treatment with OAV. Maybe I misunderstand your treatment schedule as it seems you just pulled the Apivar strips off.


I actually am trying to juggle a number of different treatment options that depend on the situation... I use the OAV primarily for a knock down when the mites need it as well as a late season treatment when there is no brood... I used Apivar for those hives that were not production (nucs and requeens) so as not to contaminate the honey... The problem right now is the mite bombs from other hives somewhere out there that are collapsing due to the varroa and I've taken the Apivar off so I'm back to OAV when I seen any signs of this when I do the mite counts. The timing here is difficult as I normally put the Apivar on the beginning of August when the mites start to really take hold but with a 6 week treat cycle means I pull them right about the time I start seeing the bombs. With the current temps MAQS is out plus this is the time of year I want zero risk to my queens... I could go back to do another Apivar treatment but then I would have to take them back out again at the end of November... At this point my hives are in their basic winter configuration and only need the insulated covers/mouse guards added later.... I would like to avoid opening them much after this point as the girls will have them nicely sealed up and I would like to keep it intact as much as possible... Hopefully this helps clarify what I am trying to do....


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## clyderoad

Bob J> thank you for clarifying. 
The October and November time frame is a tricky one here re mites as well. Extended warm fall weather has me paying more attention to the methods used in the lower Mid Atlantic states rather than those in the North Country. Seems like I find myself more and more betwixt zones in the fall, some years a northern fall and some a southern one.
Long warm fall weather is great for my fall raspberries but not so good for controlling mites.
Thanks again.


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## NewbeeInNH

Have you noticed bumblebees sleeping on the berries and other blossoms/leaves? I don't know if their homes are gone or what but they're sleeping all over the place. Maybe they're just getting old.


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## wildbranch2007

Bob J said:


> The timing here is difficult as I normally put the Apivar on the beginning of August when the mites start to really take hold but with a 6 week treat cycle means I pull them right about the time I start seeing the bombs.


one thing to watch, I bought two nucs from a commercial outfit this spring for some specific genetics, one nuc crashed shortly after I got it home, I burned it and moved the other nuc to an isolation yard, and checked for mites and diseases. they were loaded with mites, put in apivar and a sticky board, little or no mite fall, so I pulled the apivar and put on apiguard, the mite fall was amazing. The same commercial beeks was complaining about unknown problems with his hives later that year. so if you buy bees, better make sure it's effective.


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## clyderoad

Some bumbles doing that yes. But many more still flying and on any flower available, especially in the asters.
Those comatose ones look a little long in the tooth to me so think time is up for them although I'm not sure.


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## Bob J

wildbranch2007 said:


> one thing to watch, I bought two nucs from a commercial outfit this spring for some specific genetics, one nuc crashed shortly after I got it home, I burned it and moved the other nuc to an isolation yard, and checked for mites and diseases. they were loaded with mites, put in apivar and a sticky board, little or no mite fall, so I pulled the apivar and put on apiguard, the mite fall was amazing. The same commercial beeks was complaining about unknown problems with his hives later that year. so if you buy bees, better make sure it's effective.


Very interesting Mike.... Apivar seems to work fine for me with a sustained mite drop for several weeks after I put it on... I wonder if there was a problem with the Apivar strips he was using? Could also be they weren't positioned in the brood correctly...


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## NewbeeInNH

Checked my 2 hives yesterday and as suspected, they are not going thru anymore syrup, so that's the last of that. Brooding may be over. They're 100% Russians too so they are a little more frugal with stores.

Next step will be quilt boxes, sugar brick placement, and wrapping the hives, when the weather cools a little more. If it cools, that is.


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## wildbranch2007

Bob J said:


> Very interesting Mike.... Apivar seems to work fine for me with a sustained mite drop for several weeks after I put it on... I wonder if there was a problem with the Apivar strips he was using? Could also be they weren't positioned in the brood correctly...


no problem with the strips, hadn't expired and it was a nuc put in a 1 deep box hard not to put them in the brood. Since the commercial guy was complaining about problems later this summer with what I would interpret as PMS, my guess is that what ever he was using caused the mites to become resistant to apivar. now my task is to graft off the one queen left, and remove the queen cells to another yard and burn the hive and mites behind me, so they don't get into my other yards.


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## funwithbees

Hi Mike, I would think that the genetics were not worth saving if a nuc would succumb to mite pressure. They would bee no more resistant than the rest of the bees around. Just amatraz resistant mites from too much tactic use over the years.
Nick


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## wildbranch2007

funwithbees said:


> Hi Mike, I would think that the genetics were not worth saving if a nuc would succumb to mite pressure. They would bee no more resistant than the rest of the bees around. Just amatraz resistant mites from too much tactic use over the years.
> Nick


well hard to tell, since their mites were resistant and they were treating with tactic, who knows how good the bees were at fighting mites, the one I burned crashed so fast, I know it wasn't fighting mites at all. let you know next year, when I have enough drones to produce enough to test. hope you had a better year this year.


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## camero7

Not sure what the virus is, if it is indeed a virus, but all my hives in the home yard collapsed in the last 2 weeks. They had been treated OAV 2 weeks before that. This is the second year this has happened. My other 2 yards are fine [checked today and they got another shot of OAV]. I'm going to burn all the hives here in the yard and start new ones in the spring. Don't know what else to do.


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## Bob J

camero7 said:


> Not sure what the virus is, if it is indeed a virus, but all my hives in the home yard collapsed in the last 2 weeks. They had been treated OAV 2 weeks before that. This is the second year this has happened. My other 2 yards are fine [checked today and they got another shot of OAV]. I'm going to burn all the hives here in the yard and start new ones in the spring. Don't know what else to do.


Sorry to hear this Cam! What symptoms are you seeing? Dead bees in front or more like an abscomb?


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## NewbeeInNH

Weird. You don't think it's something with the OAV do you?

Actually that's what happened to me last year, but I blamed it on the drought. They either absconded or I don't know what, they just lost it after mid August. I had one lone hive survive which started out slow in the spring but is now pretty strong, and I made an extra nuc with a new queen, so I have 2, hoping to rebuild next spring. At the time I wondered if the drought made them weak and a virus finished them off, because it was my 6th or 7th year and the first time I had that many die.

Trying to keep these bees alive is... trying. The bumbles do great, the wasps, the yellow jackets, the hornets, no prob Bob. But the honeybees, yikes. It's like they never became habituated to this continent.


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Weird. You don't think it's something with the OAV do you?
> 
> Actually that's what happened to me last year, but I blamed it on the drought. They either absconded or I don't know what, they just lost it after mid August. I had one lone hive survive which started out slow in the spring but is now pretty strong, and I made an extra nuc with a new queen, so I have 2, hoping to rebuild next spring. At the time I wondered if the drought made them weak and a virus finished them off, because it was my 6th or 7th year and the first time I had that many die.
> 
> Trying to keep these bees alive is... trying. The bumbles do great, the wasps, the yellow jackets, the hornets, no prob Bob. But the honeybees, yikes. It's like they never became habituated to this continent.


I know, I had the same experience but for me it seemed to be a question of not really recognizing the impact of the drought on my colonies and taking effective and timely action.... This year is much better thankfully... Pollen patties and syrup feeding was timed better to support a strong fall build up, robbing is under control as well as control of the mites.... 

The biggest thing for me is to get more rooted in recognizing the reality of the situation and not delaying dealing with it... Weak colonies combined.... Shotgun pattern brood requeened... No pollen in frames > added pollen patties... Starting syrup early enough to take advantage of the warmer weather instead of waiting to see if we can get a fall flow... EFB treated and requeened before the colony can decline etc.... Basically becoming much more active in managing my colonies to make sure they are strong, healthy and have plenty of stores for winter... 

It's my 5th year as a beekeeper and I would have to admit that each time I think I've got everything figured out something new comes along.... I have found that my bees are great teachers, but hopefully I'm getting to the point where I can uphold my end of the bargain....;- )


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## wildbranch2007

NewbeeInNH said:


> Weird. You don't think it's something with the OAV do you?


I'm guessing not, as he said his other hives are doing fine, and last I know he was using the same jb700 on all of them. I would hope he did a mite count while they were failing to see if he got mite bomb'd, that's what happened to us up here last year. keeping an eye out this year, and an ear, and a mite counting kit.

we had a guy at the last bee meeting that said binformed had checked his mite count and it was really low, a short time later it was off the charts, so this warm weather may be contributing


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## Bob J

Unfortunately the situation sounded a lot like the IAPV losses we heard about in the Worchester holding yards earlier this year... If that was the case then there would be a number of dead/trembling bees near the hive... The fact that the losses are specific to one yard would tend to indicate something specific to that yard and not anything that would be common practice (like OAV) with the other yards... Something communicable or something in the local environment... 

You might consider sending samples to Beltsville.... I would do that before burning the hives....


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## NewbeeInNH

When oh when oh when are bees going to adapt resistance to those dumb mites. The Russian strain did, so it must be possible.


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## camero7

I'm out of town and only got on line now... answer several questions:


> Sorry to hear this Cam! What symptoms are you seeing? Dead bees in front or more like an abscomb?


Both. lots of dead bees on the bottom boards and the remainder seem to have flown off and not returned. Found 2 queens dead on the bottom board, so they didn't swarm.


> You don't think it's something with the OAV do you?


No, all hives have been treated with the JB700 as Mike indicated.



> I would hope he did a mite count while they were failing to see if he got mite bomb'd, that's what happened to us up here last year.


No, I did a count when I treated 2 weeks before, counts were 0 -4. Counts of dead bees on the bottom boards were almost all 0 except one hive had 6.

I saw no trembling bees in front of the hives, but I hadn't been around the hives until they all crashed. Too complacent. They were all heavy with honey, had 6 - 8 frames of bees in both deep boxes and were very healthy. They all crashed in less than 2 weeks.

Beltsville doesn't check for virus. I know the mite counts in the dead bees. Put several under the scope and no significant nosema.


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## NewbeeInNH

Wow. You found dead queens. Could it have been an encounter with a pesticide or other chemical? Someone is spraying for something this time of year?


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## wildbranch2007

so Cam did they die around the same time last year?


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## kaizen

Interesting yard visit today. bees were bringing in small amounts of yellow, orange, and off white pollen. Bees are taking some feed but not as fast as expected. Did oav and bees were more docile then other times I have done oav. just really quiet although lots of them flying. At my home yard I had an explosion of wasps and hornets. I think I might have attracted them with an open feeder at one corner of the yard but besides the ones feeding on that there were lots just getting into trouble. I refilled my hornet trap and in less then an hour I had 30 or so. by the end of the day I have a 2-3 inch floating layer of them. Went out and bought some more for good measure. Went so far as to wait till dusk when the bees had stopped flying to the feed bucket and sprayed it with 2 cans of death. Had to be 400 plus. I then put the bucket which was empty of feed in a double black plastic trash bag and moved it so bees didn't get into it. It was a desperate act but as of today they had not fully attached the hives so I felt it was a necessary first strike. Watched a massive bald faced hornet on top of one hive pulling apart a bee. Looked like it was just for fun. it didn't sting the bee just kept pulling off pieces. Squished him with pleasure.


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## NewbeeInNH

As much as I hate to say it, hurry up hard freeze! Looks like frost here tomorrow night anyway.


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## Bob J

Fall still slowly settling in. Nighttime lows ranged from 47 to 69F and daytime highs from 59 to 75F. 4 days of measurable rain with rainfall for the month (Oct) at 1.11" and YTD at 26.40". 

Goldenrod is still blooming and asters. Some yellow and lots of orange pollen coming in.

No swarms reported last week.

Hive temps are slowly dropping this week indicating the queens are shutting down significant brood rearing. Mite drops are spiking which is also an indication that brood rearing is slowing. OAV treated all production hives to knock mites down. Weights are pretty much stable but still feeding several hives that are under winter weight and bees are still taking it at roughly a gallon or so of 2:1 per week no matter how much I put on.


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## kaizen

robbing by yellow jackets a major problem up my way. some hives putting up a fight while others are apparently too weak to do much. already lost 2 that I know of due to something and then robbed out. 3 10 frame deeps completely dry in one week. must have been carnage to watch. saw wasps of all variety probing every crack for an entrance. applied painters tape where needed. robbing screens did not help these hives for some reason. ordered more mouse screens


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## Bob J

kaizen said:


> robbing by yellow jackets a major problem up my way. some hives putting up a fight while others are apparently too weak to do much. already lost 2 that I know of due to something and then robbed out. 3 10 frame deeps completely dry in one week. must have been carnage to watch. saw wasps of all variety probing every crack for an entrance. applied painters tape where needed. robbing screens did not help these hives for some reason. ordered more mouse screens


Sorry to hear this Terrence! One thing I learned last year is that robbing screens only work for a limited attack and can be actually detrimental in some cases.... I found several hives where the robbers actually found and used the limited upper entrance to get in... The hives did not defend the upper entrance but tried to defend the open main entrance on the inside of the screen... When I checked the hives I found the screen literally jammed with the dead and dying robbers/defenders.... This year I did not use the screens but used the entrance reducer set to the smallest opening during the robbing season... Also dealt with weak hives much sooner so all my hives this time of year are strong and well populated.... So far everything seems to be working but as always am keeping my finders crossed....


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## kaizen

Bob J said:


> Sorry to hear this Terrence! One thing I learned last year is that robbing screens only work for a limited attack and can be actually detrimental in some cases.... I found several hives where the robbers actually found and used the limited upper entrance to get in... The hives did not defend the upper entrance but tried to defend the open main entrance on the inside of the screen... When I checked the hives I found the screen literally jammed with the dead and dying robbers/defenders.... This year I did not use the screens but used the entrance reducer set to the smallest opening during the robbing season... Also dealt with weak hives much sooner so all my hives this time of year are strong and well populated.... So far everything seems to be working but as always am keeping my finders crossed....


Thanks bob. I added mouse gaurds on these hives last time I was there and put painters tape over most of the openings to close them down to just a few spaces. Went back there yesterday to find the bees had unwittingly chewed another 8 openings making it more vulnerable. I have traps set at my house and they just never stop coming. kind of funny watching them get challenged by a bee and just walk away till the bee loses interest and then they try again. At least the dead outs were bone dry so hoping most of it went to my other hives. agree consolidating made a huge difference for me as well. I had 4 low performing hives and I took 2 queens out and combined them. those two were not even being bothered by wasps. their population had greatly risen from 2 weeks ago. It is what it is at this point in the year.


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## Bob J

kaizen said:


> Thanks bob. I added mouse gaurds on these hives last time I was there and put painters tape over most of the openings to close them down to just a few spaces. Went back there yesterday to find the bees had unwittingly chewed another 8 openings making it more vulnerable. I have traps set at my house and they just never stop coming. kind of funny watching them get challenged by a bee and just walk away till the bee loses interest and then they try again. At least the dead outs were bone dry so hoping most of it went to my other hives. agree consolidating made a huge difference for me as well. I had 4 low performing hives and I took 2 queens out and combined them. those two were not even being bothered by wasps. their population had greatly risen from 2 weeks ago. It is what it is at this point in the year.


I hear you Terrence! I'm waiting until the robbing season is past before I put on the mouse guards.... I know it's a risk but am thinking that the mouse would have a hard time moving in if the bees are in a strong hive with a reduced entrance and are active.... My understanding is the biggest risk for mice is when the weather is cool enough for them to be regularly clustered (<60F daytime high)... With the current warm weather I'm still feeding a few to top up winter weight and still haven't seen any sign of a frost.... 

For mouse guards I'm going to be trying something new this year that I found on ebay and shipped from Greece... They look like these:

https://www.cutlersupply.com/collec...or-10-frame-hives-1/products/bz66-mouse-guard

In the past I've used several different approaches from hardware cloth (easiest and cheapest) to the sliding type you normally order from the usual bee supply places.... What I like about this one is the design is not a punched hole but more of an arch which am thinking will prevent the stripping of some of the early spring pollen I have seen in the past... It also looks like it will be easy to reduce the entrance using mylar or duct tape if robbing becomes a concern which is the main drawback I've had with the hardware cloth... Time will tell whether it works but thought it worth a try....;- )


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## kaizen

Bob J said:


> I hear you Terrence! I'm waiting until the robbing season is past before I put on the mouse guards.... I know it's a risk but am thinking that the mouse would have a hard time moving in if the bees are in a strong hive with a reduced entrance and are active.... My understanding is the biggest risk for mice is when the weather is cool enough for them to be regularly clustered (<60F daytime high)... With the current warm weather I'm still feeding a few to top up winter weight and still haven't seen any sign of a frost....
> 
> For mouse guards I'm going to be trying something new this year that I found on ebay and shipped from Greece... They look like these:
> 
> https://www.cutlersupply.com/collec...or-10-frame-hives-1/products/bz66-mouse-guard
> 
> In the past I've used several different approaches from hardware cloth (easiest and cheapest) to the sliding type you normally order from the usual bee supply places.... What I like about this one is the design is not a punched hole but more of an arch which am thinking will prevent the stripping of some of the early spring pollen I have seen in the past... It also looks like it will be easy to reduce the entrance using mylar or duct tape if robbing becomes a concern which is the main drawback I've had with the hardware cloth... Time will tell whether it works but thought it worth a try....;- )


HA those are what i'm running. Interested to know if its good stainless steel. I got from ebay but only zinc coated. Some are already rusting after 2 months on them. those are the holes I taped up to reduce the entrances like I said earlier. I wanted to try them because I hate using tools besides my hive tool. every oav i'd have to unscrew the mouse gaurds and then screw back on. these are so much easier to just lift up. soon i'll be using johno's band heater oav so might not be an issue as its all done from the rear of the hive. One "oh crap" moment with these was last weekend when I made up ten more robber screens only to then realize the wings sticking out on those keep the normal size ones from fitting. I have to redo those or make new ones that are smaller and that fit between those wings that stick out. 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-Set-Zinc...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649


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## Bob J

Awesome! Great minds think alike..... Thanks for the heads up on the rust... Will have to think of something I can do to prevent that....;- )


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## kaizen

Bob J said:


> Awesome! Great minds think alike..... Thanks for the heads up on the rust... Will have to think of something I can do to prevent that....;- )


your link says they are stainless steel which is why I asked to let us know. only a buck difference so if they are quality its worth it over mine. For mine i'm going to just spray paint them next year or powder coat them if I have a set up by then. Thinking of making some custom made items that work with these brackets like a mouse guard with a robber screen made out of metal so both come off at once. project for winter thinking.


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## Bob J

Definitely like the way you think....;- ) 

Mine are zinc coated as well... I just grabbed the first link I could find that showed the design... Spray paint or powder coat is a good idea... Will have to try it and see....


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## Bob J

Unseasonably warm weather continues. Nighttime lows ranged from 43 to 57F and daytime highs from 59 to 77F. No days of measurable rain with rainfall for the month (Oct) at 1.11" and YTD at 26.40". 

Goldenrod is still blooming. Some Orange pollen coming in.

No swarms reported last week.

Bees were enjoying the warmer weather but not much coming in. Some robber scouts but the reduced entrances and all the hives being strong dealt with them pretty handily. Yellow jackets still around but mainly working the ground around the hives. Thankfully no further signs of mite bombs but am keeping my OAV rig handy just in case another one crops up. These days are beautiful with warm days and all the Autumn colors now showing as the leaves change.


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## MaineMike

First week of November and they are still bringing in loads of orange pollen from somewhere, I don't see anything of color in the meadows...


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## trishbookworm

in OH, we are seeing orange pollen too - it is dandelion pollen. In yards rather than meadows that aren't mowed.


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## Bob J

Unseasonably warm weather continues. Nighttime lows ranged from 39 to 55F and daytime highs from 53 to 75F. 7 days of measurable rain with rainfall for the month (Nov) at 0.42" and YTD at 27.60". No hard freeze yet in any of my yards.

Goldenrod is still blooming. Orange pollen still coming in.

No swarms reported last week.

Lost week with all the rainy weather from the waves of storms. Removed all the feed cans and OAV treated all hives. Several hives still showing brooding temps which is pretty amazing given the time of year. With it still fairly warm am holding off putting on winter shims and mouse guards due to the continued chance of robbing due to both bees and yellow jackets. All hives appear to be doing well with entrance reducers set to the smallest opening.


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## NewbeeInNH

Just don't look at Saturday's forecast....


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## Bob J

NewbeeInNH said:


> Just don't look at Saturday's forecast....


LOL! I know.... Was too good to last!


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## kaizen

ayuh. calling it a year and as usual behind the 8 ball on getting the equipment built. taking off the syrup in the next two days and buttoning them up as much as I can. mousegaurds are already on. not all of my hives will have a quilt box till another few weeks from the looks of things. i'd like to move full frames around but think even at 50 degrees they will be clustering so not wise. 
I tried paint can feeders inside the hive this year and did better then plastic hive top feeders but still not as much as I've heard others report they take down in a week.


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## kaizen

ayuh. calling it a year and as usual behind the 8 ball on getting the equipment built. taking off the syrup in the next two days and buttoning them up as much as I can. mousegaurds are already on. not all of my hives will have a quilt box till another few weeks from the looks of things. i'd like to move full frames around but think even at 50 degrees they will be clustering so not wise. 
I tried paint can feeders inside the hive this year and did better then plastic hive top feeders but still not as much as I've heard others report they take down in a week.


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## Karen of NH

Look in the undergrowth of the woodlands nearby. The dark orange pollen coming in my hives is from Witch Hazel blooming now.


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## Bob J

Thanks Karen, will have to check that out....

Terrence, I'm with you.... Temperatures in the 20's forecast for the upcoming weekend will pretty much call it... Mouse guards and winter shims/insulation will probably go on this weekend....


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## Scitfrostbite

So far been able to escape any bear attacks here in Hopkinton. Beek neighbor not so lucky. Maybe it's the newly installed electric fence? When do bears in this area go to sleep for the winter? Do others keep the fence charged for the winter or turn it off at some annual date on the calendar?


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## Bob J

Scitfrostbite said:


> So far been able to escape any bear attacks here in Hopkinton. Beek neighbor not so lucky. Maybe it's the newly installed electric fence? When do bears in this area go to sleep for the winter? Do others keep the fence charged for the winter or turn it off at some annual date on the calendar?


Am not really sure but did find this online:

http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/fish-wildlife-plants/mammals/black-bear-faqs.html#hibernate

This would seem to indicate that the start of local black bear hibernation is mid November to mid December depending on the weather... With the warmer than normal fall that would tend to make me think more mid December...


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## NewbeeInNH

I heard it as they hibernate at first snow and wake up when the snow's just about gone in the spring. I don't know if that's a hard and fast rule. In southern NH here, it hasn't snowed, but I would be surprised if they haven't started hibernating yet, it's been very cold lately.

No sense keeping an electric fence on in the snow, won't work anyway. We have a solar panel so we bring it in in the winter. Probably should fold up the entire fence and bring it in because it will just sag from the winter weather anyway, but we'll see how motivated we are. (I use the term "we" here loosely.  )


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## Scitfrostbite

Thank you Bob and Newbie for your helpful replies. I had seen that useful state info. 

I love all of the little seasonal reminders that MA beekeepers have like-- super at first dandelion, brood stops by thanksgiving, etc. I know these kind of reminders are imperfect but still helpful as one learns the art of beekeeping. As I learn more about the new reality of living with bears in Hopkinton, I'll keep this first snow thing in mind.

My electrified wire is permanently attached to the top of a chainlink fence so it's there to stay for winter but I think I'll store the box for the winter.


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## camero7

Do others keep the fence charged for the winter or turn it off at some annual date on the calendar? I leave my solar charger on all winter, when the snow shorts it out it doesn't work but as soon as the snow drops it works again. Been doing that for several years now.


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## yukonjack

I left mine running all winter like you....I probably should have brought it in to keep the battery from freezing, but the couch-inertia proves hard to overcome.


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## wildbranch2007

camero7 said:


> Do others keep the fence charged for the winter or turn it off at some annual date on the calendar? I leave my solar charger on all winter, when the snow shorts it out it doesn't work but as soon as the snow drops it works again. Been doing that for several years now.


just took mine in yesterday, if I leave them in over winter, with the snow we get, the batteries are toast in the spring. I keep less hives in the areas I need fences, so at some point you have to stick your neck out.


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## VickyLynn

I keep my fence up all year round, but I use a plug-in charger so a battery isn't affected. Once the deep snow comes, I turn it off, but I turn it once the ground is somewhat bare. My fence is electric netting, but I haven't noticed that it sags overly much. I just reposition it in the spring to make sure it's taut and bait it with tuna fish or peanut butter or both (bacon is too good for a bear). When bears wake up after hibernation, they are really hungry - it's important that they get a powerful zap with that first lick. Then, they'll never come back.


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## NewbeeInNH

I have a solar powered fence, and I could be wrong but I think you're supposed to take the solar panel in over the winter, otherwise the components deteriorate too quickly in the winter sun even if it's not engaged.


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## kaizen

Finally put the ratchet straps on all the living hives. As I mentioned earlier I was getting squadrons of wasps and hornets attacking my hives. Even with entrance reducers they were still taking quite a toll. From my max of 18 hives in mid summer i'm down to ten again. Most of the ten are small clusters so i'll be surprised if they make it. One upside to the dead hives is the living now have quite a stack of feed. There are still some yellow jackets flying in 40 degree weather but not many. The bees were out Saturday stretching their wings in the good weather. looks like for the next ten days it will be warmer then normal. They are on their own at this point. My winter learning/project will be on wasps/hornets. I think I need to learn how to hunt the bugs. Definitely going to work on about a hundred home made traps.


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## NewbeeInNH

kaizen, sounds like you've had quite the problem with wasps. You might be interested in natural predators to help with your wasp control.

http://animals.mom.me/natural-predators-wasps-7754.html


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## Cloverdale

kaizen said:


> Finally put the ratchet straps on all the living hives. As I mentioned earlier I was getting squadrons of wasps and hornets attacking my hives. Even with entrance reducers they were still taking quite a toll. From my max of 18 hives in mid summer i'm down to ten again. Most of the ten are small clusters so i'll be surprised if they make it. One upside to the dead hives is the living now have quite a stack of feed. There are still some yellow jackets flying in 40 degree weather but not many. The bees were out Saturday stretching their wings in the good weather. looks like for the next ten days it will be warmer then normal. They are on their own at this point. My winter learning/project will be on wasps/hornets. I think I need to learn how to hunt the bugs. Definitely going to work on about a hundred home made traps.


When you see yellow jackets in the early Spring they are the queens! We watched carefully and killed all we saw. It greatly reduced the number of yellowjackets during the Summer/Fall. With your traps you should not have a big problem this coming year.


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## kaizen

NewbeeInNH said:


> kaizen, sounds like you've had quite the problem with wasps. You might be interested in natural predators to help with your wasp control.
> 
> http://animals.mom.me/natural-predators-wasps-7754.html


Thanks. I'll stat there. This is farmland so introducing bugs that might damage crops is out. Some of those insects are expensive! At one yard I had a leaking feed can that was coming through a crack at the back of the hive. I squshed 232 of them over the course of 20 minutes and there was no end in sight. I have to learn my prey. wondering if I can waspline them back to their nests.


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## toekneepea

kaizen said:


> Definitely going to work on about a hundred home made traps.


These work: http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Yellow-Jacket-Bottle-Trap/


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## kaizen

Cloverdale said:


> When you see yellow jackets in the early Spring they are the queens! We watched carefully and killed all we saw. It greatly reduced the number of yellowjackets during the Summer/Fall. With your traps you should not have a big problem this coming year.


I always have them when I have freezing temperatures. going to experiment with a saltwater brine to see if it doesn't freeze. wonder if I can use glycol or if it will smell and deter the wasps from investigating. I would love to get the queen coming out of hibernation. I would really like to get bald face hornets gone. those things were killing just for the pleasure of it. Not even trying to get in the hives. already have some ideas to improve on the 2 liter soda type traps. 
The awesome continuous flow all year I think led to the large numbers. Also in these yards I did have a very aggressive cross bred bee. So I think for my first few years the wasps and hornets didn't mess with them. Seriously I would open the inner cover and 30 would be on me. They all died over the winter so these ones are just normal temperament. Strangely my 2 nucs seem the strongest over my hives there.


----------



## kaizen

toekneepea said:


> These work: http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Yellow-Jacket-Bottle-Trap/


yes that's the idea. one downside to those from what I am told is they get filled with water and the prey can get out so I 'll be making a rain cover. trying to find the exact peremone/smell that attracts them. others put soda and meat and everything under the sun. I just used the store bought ones but the refill for those is like 6 bucks each. so really need to perfect my design and plan


----------



## Bob J

kaizen said:


> Finally put the ratchet straps on all the living hives. As I mentioned earlier I was getting squadrons of wasps and hornets attacking my hives. Even with entrance reducers they were still taking quite a toll. From my max of 18 hives in mid summer i'm down to ten again. Most of the ten are small clusters so i'll be surprised if they make it. One upside to the dead hives is the living now have quite a stack of feed. There are still some yellow jackets flying in 40 degree weather but not many. The bees were out Saturday stretching their wings in the good weather. looks like for the next ten days it will be warmer then normal. They are on their own at this point. My winter learning/project will be on wasps/hornets. I think I need to learn how to hunt the bugs. Definitely going to work on about a hundred home made traps.


I have one yard that was hammered by yellow jackets.... Small entrances and strong colonies worked keeping them out but in another thread someone suggested putting out traps in the spring to catch the overwintered queens.... Think that is a great idea and will be giving it a shot next year.... Will let you know how it works out....;- )


----------



## Scitfrostbite

On another subject, when I started out it was suggested to me to do a thanksgiving weekend broodless OAV, then because of recent warm winters I moved it to 12/1. Now this yr I’m wondering if even later would be a good idea? Could Italians still have brood in MA right now?


----------



## Bob J

Scitfrostbite said:


> On another subject, when I started out it was suggested to me to do a thanksgiving weekend broodless OAV, then because of recent warm winters I moved it to 12/1. Now this yr I’m wondering if even later would be a good idea? Could Italians still have brood in MA right now?


Am not sure but I plan on waiting a couple of weeks to do mine due to the mild fall just to be sure......


----------



## VickyLynn

I did one on November 4. I plan to follow up on a warm day around Christmas.


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## Scitfrostbite

Got into hives during the 48hr warm up. Double and triple deep hives still alive. 5 over 5 nuc dead, I didn't have high hopes for it because of a suspect queen and was first attempt overwintering a nuc. Looks like they got too cold but of course could be mites, it's almost always mites, isn't it.

100lb hive has been on sugar brick for weeks, all hives have insurance bricks now.


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## Scitfrostbite

Got into hives during the 48hr warm up. Double and triple deep hives still alive. 5 over 5 nuc dead, I didn't have high hopes for it because of a suspect queen and was first attempt overwintering a nuc. Looks like they got too cold but of course could be mites, it's almost always mites, isn't it.

100lb hive has been on sugar brick for weeks, all hives have insurance bricks now.


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## Bob J

All my hives (12) and nucs (5) are still looking good so far..... I have fondant on all and a number of hives are working it.... Will need to go back on the regular checks at the end of the month to make sure no one starves.... Keeping my fingers crossed that this will be a good overwintering year.....


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## VickyLynn

I checked my 13 hives and all are alive. The bees are up top in five out of my ten Langstroth hives - gave them all more sugar bricks. The other three are in my Slovene bee house. I gave them some food, too, for my peace of mind. I stuck my hive tool into several frames and they have honey. There hasn't been a good flying day yet. The one really mild name was a complete deluge - melted about two feet of snow.


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## kaizen

Wow you guys have some good numbers so far. Looks like the weekend might have a flying day or at least a walk out and poop day.


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## Scitfrostbite

.







First time with Nosema. Looks like this hive is down to a very small sickly cluster. Inspector says close it off and let them die before they infect other two hives on warm up, followed by a vinegar/water wipe down of all of the woodenware to disinfect it before reuse.

How do you cold climate MA guys deal with this? Are you in agreement with inspector? Any way to get some FumB/syrup into them before spring?


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## Scitfrostbite

sorry


----------



## Cloverdale

From the image it looks like nosema apis and not nosema cerana? With n.cerana I let my hive die. I found out too late that this one hive had it and I’m not sure if I infected any other hives. You can use diluted bleach to clean your hive bodies or lightly torch them as you would with AFB. Any foundation should be thrown out and you can soak the frames in the bleach solution.


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## Scitfrostbite

Cloverdale said:


> From the image it looks like nosema apis and not nosema cerana? With n.cerana I let my hive die. I found out too late that this one hive had it and I’m not sure if I infected any other hives. You can use diluted bleach to clean your hive bodies or lightly torch them as you would with AFB. Any foundation should be thrown out and you can soak the frames in the bleach solution.


Thanks for the reply. Yes, I figure it is Nosema Apis. No way to save/clean all these drawn frames? Sucks to lose two deeps of drawn frames but if it has to be.


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## camero7

dysentery is not always a sign of apis and almost never a sign of ceranae. Without a scope done how would anyone know this was nosema? If the hive dies I would disinfect with acetic acid if I used them again at all.


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## Cuttingedgelandinc

camero7 said:


> dysentery is not always a sign of apis and almost never a sign of ceranae. Without a scope done how would anyone know this was nosema? If the hive dies I would disinfect with acetic acid if I used them again at all.


Thanks for this reply. Lately it seems that everyone that has bees defecating on the front of the hive automatically assumes that it is Nosema. It is impossible to detect without a microscope.


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## Scitfrostbite

I understand it's not always Nosema Apis but I've never had a hive with such black feces or this much feces or so many dead bees. I guess the severity of this has me thinking it is more than just late winter dysentery.

Would you kill off the small cluster left?

Can you disinfect comb with acetic acid? I've only heard of using it on woodenware?


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## wildbranch2007

when you get a small cluster in cold weather they can't break cluster even on a warm day, so they can't defecate outside the hive, and because there are so few of them they expend a lot more energy per bee and consequently have to go more often. I wouldn't suspect nosema unless you purchased the bees or queen from some one else. or go with Camero7 recommendation.


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## camero7

A few years ago Randy Oliver requested scrapings from the front of hives with dysentery - he checked a few hundred for nosema and found only a couple of cases. Acetic acid kills nosema and I use it for that purpose and to deter/kill wax moth. Doesn't hurt the comb. I spray it with a small sprayer. Might want to use a mask, the fumes are pretty strong.


----------



## Cloverdale

camero7 said:


> dysentery is not always a sign of apis and almost never a sign of ceranae. Without a scope done how would anyone know this was nosema? If the hive dies I would disinfect with acetic acid if I used them again at all.


You are right; people assume because of dysentery that it is nosema apis. I figured he had a bee inspector there and should have a better idea of what is going on. It could be a high ash content of Fall honey the bees stored? Last year was such a weird year for honey, in my area we had plants bloom and rebloom, and actually had a woodland orchid grow along my driveway I had never seen before.


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## Scitfrostbite

I spoke with MA inspector on the phone and emailed pictures about the dysentery/possible apis. I have an email out to MA apiary dept to see if I can get a nosema apis test somewhere around central MA.

I don't understand why the inspector said to wipe woodenware with 1:1 household vinegar/water solution. Household vinegar is like 5% acetic acid (I believe) and then diluted like 2-3%. That's not very strong solution for killing spores. He also said be careful not to get solution on wax but others say they spray or dip the frames drawn wax and all?


----------



## Michael Palmer

http://www.uoguelph.ca/honeybee/education-fumigation.shtml


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## Scitfrostbite

Metrowest Forecast-
Tues H62 L53
Wed H65 L40

Obviously never tried to feed syrup at this time of the yr, I wonder if I could get hives to take some FumB 2:1 syrup over this brief warm up? What you think? Waste of Time? Has anyone tried something like this in our weather zone?


----------



## Cuttingedgelandinc

Scitfrostbite said:


> Metrowest Forecast-
> Tues H62 L53
> Wed H65 L40
> 
> Obviously never tried to feed syrup at this time of the yr, I wonder if I could get hives to take some FumB 2:1 syrup over this brief warm up? What you think? Waste of Time? Has anyone tried something like this in our weather zone?


I would not but I also don’t use Fumagilin B!


----------



## Cloverdale

Michael Palmer said:


> http://www.uoguelph.ca/honeybee/education-fumigation.shtml


Can diluted bleach be used and sprayed on the hive boxes and then aired out? This is for n. cerana. Or can a coat of paint take care of it? Deb


----------



## frogpondwarrior

Scitfrostbite said:


> Metrowest Forecast-
> Tues H62 L53
> Wed H65 L40
> 
> Obviously never tried to feed syrup at this time of the yr, I wonder if I could get hives to take some FumB 2:1 syrup over this brief warm up? What you think? Waste of Time? Has anyone tried something like this in our weather zone?


Around this time last year I found some old jar caps and filled them and placed on top frames beside clusters. It was gone the next time in. Might have evaporated but saw a few on it before I could get closed up. Was it enough to really do much good???
This year used it in my fall syrup. In theory, well my theory it's in the stored honey. Not so sure with the brown snow around the hives. 
I don't think you could keep it warm enough to entice enough to break cluster.


----------



## wildbranch2007

Scitfrostbite said:


> Obviously never tried to feed syrup at this time of the yr, I wonder if I could get hives to take some FumB 2:1 syrup over this brief warm up? What you think? Waste of Time? Has anyone tried something like this in our weather zone?


If you want to give them Fumb, read the instructions and use the drench method, it uses less liquid and they are forced to eat it to clean up the hive. If you can find it on beesource or maybe he will post it, Michael Palmer once wrote about a dry method for using it but I don't remember what thread it was in.


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## Scitfrostbite

Thanks for the suggestion. I’ve never doused bees with FumB syrup but I’m familiar with the technique. I wasn’t considering it right now as I would be concerned about getting bees wet in the winter and the fact, as I understand it, that 3 or 4 treatments a week apart are necessary.

My current thinking is to give them a small jar of medicated syrup during this warm up on Wednesday and see what happens.

I did my annual late winter pollen patties yesterday and this sick hive took right to the patties. I was surprised by their numbers so I’m hoping they have the strength to make it to spring.

I just hope I don’t regret not killing it off as the inspector recommended.


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## wildbranch2007

Scitfrostbite said:


> Thanks for the suggestion. I’ve never doused bees with FumB syrup but I’m familiar with the technique. I wasn’t considering it right now as I would be concerned about getting bees wet in the winter and the fact, as I understand it, that 3 or 4 treatments a week apart are necessary.


true, but if they really do have Nosema, they wont take the offered sugar water, that's why with the warm weather I would do the drench once, and you don't actually have to put much on the bees, I put some on them so they lap it off and the rest on the top of the frames, I usually only use a 12 oz bear with the recommended dosage of fumidal, good luck


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## Scitfrostbite

"if they really do have Nosema, they wont take the offered sugar water"

Interesting, haven't heard that, thanks. These bees are eating the homemade granular sugar and apple cider vinegar brick. I wonder if that might mean anything?


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## wildbranch2007

Scitfrostbite said:


> "if they really do have Nosema, they wont take the offered sugar water"
> 
> Interesting, haven't heard that, thanks. These bees are eating the homemade granular sugar and apple cider vinegar brick. I wonder if that might mean anything?





> Immune Suppression
> 
> Nosema is tough on individual bees, not least of which because the infection inhibits their ability to digest food. Molonea (1998) found reduced digestive proteolytic activity in young bees infected with N. apis. Dr. Mariano Higes explains that bees infected by N. ceranae simply starve to death in the midst of plenty due to lack of digestive function.


http://scientificbeekeeping.com/nosema-ceranae-kiss-of-death-or-much-ado-about-nothing/


that's why they say if you have a frame feeder or top feeder in and you find lots of dead bees in it, they probably have nosem. Then again the undertaker bees could have put them there also, nothings easy


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## Cloverdale

Nosema ceranae: Kiss of Death or Much Ado about Nothing? This is at ScientificBeekeping. What it says regarding N.Cerana is the cold will kill most of the spores that are on contaminated comb and boxes, at least those infected with about 10 million spores (my bees had 26 million spore level). I was told to use acetic acid or a bleach solution but in my climate it isn’t necessary. Also more info on n. apis. A very good read.


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## MaineMike

With the warm weather today Im planning on opening them up and taking inventory. Exactly how far would you go? 

They are in 2 deeps with a medium super on top, then a candy board and quilt box. Im going to have to unwrap to get into the deeps - which means pull some staples and take out some screws holding a piece of strapping - PIA.

Would you suggest OAVing?

Right now I know they are Ok, I can hear them, and they have pushing dead bodies out, and theres poop on the front porch after warmer days.

Mike


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## MaineMike

..


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## JWPalmer

Mike, I am in 7a so quite a bit warmer than you are. If you are done with sub zero temps, no need to re wrap the hives. I would use this oportunity to go all the way into the hives. If still essentially broodless, by all means, OAV. Check stores, maybe move any outer frames of honey to top center. Make sure quilt box is dry. I started pollen sub a month ago. Might be time for you if looking for early spring build up. Might also be time to open the entrance reducer a notch. I pulled mine last weekend. 

All the best,


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## MaineMike

Thanks for the guidance, Hmm never know about the sub 0s... We've had snow in April, it is New England after all! I'll check the long range... Thanks again. - Mike


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## clyderoad

MaineMike said:


> With the warm weather today Im planning on opening them up and taking inventory. Exactly how far would you go?


Just saw your post so my answer may be too little too late. 
Feb 20 is no time to fully inspect or manipulate hives. 
Make sure they are heavy, feed some sugar if not and come back in a month.


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## wildbranch2007

MaineMike said:


> With the warm weather today Im planning on opening them up and taking inventory. Exactly how far would you go?


I'm guessing this is one of those questions 10 beeks 11 answers. On a warm day above 50 little wind, I take the hive down to the bottom board and clean it, you get to see the cluster size, and judge weight, I don't pull frames unless there is an obvious problem, you can be done in a min. or so. But if you have them wrapped, I would re-wrap them, they may have expanded the cluster larger than they would have normally if not wrapped, so put them back the way you found them.


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## MaineMike

I'll see how it goes when I get out there and exactly how warm it is ( there can be cold breezes across the snowy field, and not feel like 70..)

I may just go down to the top deep, we'll see... and not pull frames. Id like to clean the bottom though...

I'll let you know how it goes...


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## Mefco

Bees are flying here, sunny and almost 70, I see them bringing in pollen from somewhere, questions: where do you think it’s coming from and should I be giving them pollen patty?
Was going to wait until mid March, remember last year we had 60s in February, then a deep freeze in March, don’t want them to get overextended


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## MaineMike

70 degrees! Hives look great! Lots of bees, top deeps on both hives are full of honey still, the med honey super is still heavy. Theyve done a number on the sugar block, about 1/2 gone.

OAVed them, cleaned the bottom board. One hive has always had more bees than the other, it it still true. I gonna do a split on that hive, it is out of room or will be with new brood - in my estimation.

Re-wrapped for a couple more months...

Mike


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## markus2

I can't believe how much pollen all of my 5 hives were bringing in! I didn't think there was anything out there. This unseasonably warm day has got me a little too excited and I'm already planning my spring splits.


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## JWPalmer

I look at warm days like today as a gift and try to use them to their fullest advantage. Glad you got in and know where you stand and that your bees won't starve later this spring. Mine are building like crazy. Bottom inserts were covered in chewed brood capping wax on both my full sized hives. Medium over deep nuc is packed solid with bees now and will get a full sized box when I get back home this weekend (weather permitting). I missed my best OAV opportunity so I am happy to hear you were able to get yours done on time.


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## Vance G

And here the snow lies brilliant white and rippling far away over the prairie.


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## clyderoad

markus2 said:


> I can't believe how much pollen all of my 5 hives were bringing in! I didn't think there was anything out there. This unseasonably warm day has got me a little too excited and I'm already planning my spring splits.


what color pollen?


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## Mefco

Mine were bringing in light yellow and gray pollen


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## clyderoad

light yellow and grey could well be the maples, although skunk cabbage pollen is yellow and swamp elm pollen is very light green that could look gray.

no pollen loads here yet except for the pollen sub loads from the feeders I put out. Thought we were 2 weeks out
but maybe sooner than I thought.


----------



## markus2

The pollen was a light yellow or beige color.


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## amirbay

Yesterday some bees were bringing pollen in Framingham. Not sure what is blooming now.


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## VickyLynn

Isn't she a pretty one!

Looks like red maple pollen.


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## Bob J

Had a chance to check all my colonies after the recent storm.... Lost 4 hives and all the nucs.... 7 hives still healthy with several packed with a huge amount of bees, much larger than I have seen in previous years... All surviving hives got pollen patties.... All my losses but two were in one yard which seemed interesting... One loss was a bad queen as there was a nice patch of capped drones and no worker brood... Two starved out and the rest are somewhat of a mystery.... Large clusters and plenty of stored honey.... Pretty disheartening....


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## wildbranch2007

Bob J said:


> Large clusters and plenty of stored honey.... Pretty disheartening....


where was the stored honey in relation to the clusters, we are seeing many clusters that are higher than normal with honey below them but in danger of running out. the assumption is that the really cold early weather forced them to eat straight up and not be able to go sideways early, so they went straight to the top.


----------



## Bob J

wildbranch2007 said:


> where was the stored honey in relation to the clusters, we are seeing many clusters that are higher than normal with honey below them but in danger of running out. the assumption is that the really cold early weather forced them to eat straight up and not be able to go sideways early, so they went straight to the top.


Hi Mike! Honey was to the side but not in contact with the dead cluster..... I've seen something like this before but with them locked up on brood... In this case it was just the dead cluster.... No brood....


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## Bob J

Another storm tomorrow with 6-8 inches predicted.... All hives have plenty of fondant and pollen patties so should be in good shape as long as there is no wind/tree damage.... Maples are starting to bloom but with this continued cold not much chance for the girls to get to anything.....


----------



## clyderoad

wildbranch2007 said:


> where was the stored honey in relation to the clusters, we are seeing many clusters that are higher than normal with honey below them but in danger of running out. the assumption is that the really cold early weather forced them to eat straight up and not be able to go sideways early, so they went straight to the top.


seeing the same here. 3 dead outs yesterday with good clusters above or away from honey. broke down the three hives and collected the honey
frames- yield was 2 full mediums and 1/2 a deep- plenty for 3rd week of March.
wondering if wrapping would have helped them move around inside this year.


----------



## MaineMike

My 2 hives are still hanging on... shined a flash light into the access hole in the sugar block shim and could see them on the block, shining the light too long got them curious and they poked thier heads out. Hoping they make it until we see some mid 50s, not sure when... As a side note, was in the Keys last week, flowers about, but not one forager... desolate.


----------



## Bob J

MaineMike said:


> My 2 hives are still hanging on... shined a flash light into the access hole in the sugar block shim and could see them on the block, shining the light too long got them curious and they poked thier heads out. Hoping they make it until we see some mid 50s, not sure when... As a side note, was in the Keys last week, flowers about, but not one forager... desolate.


I was in the keys about a month ago and was amazed how much damage there was.... Key West seemed fine but the other keys were pretty much trashed.... Felt bad for those folks....


----------



## MaineMike

Bob J said:


> I was in the keys about a month ago and was amazed how much damage there was.... Key West seemed fine but the other keys were pretty much trashed.... Felt bad for those folks....


Ya, the ocean side was devastated, especially lower Matecumbe, below Islamorada, some houses built upon garages were blown through. still some appliances on the side of RT1, but strong people ( hardly any natives, most from northern states that run biz down there ) - survivors, one gal told us she wrote her SSN on her arm at the height of Irma so they'd be able to ID her, now thats being scared...

any who.. back to bees...


----------



## Scitfrostbite

Good news USDA reports says no Nosema or any disease for that matter. But surprisingly, surviving hives had 3.5 mites per 100 bees. Samples were collected March 1st. They got OAV in Oct and Dec too! 

Hives starting to take syrup this week and still working sugar bricks too. New package seems to be braving the cold so far (day 3).


----------



## Scitfrostbite

Spotted drones coming and going this weekend here in MA. Isn’t a little early for that? Could they be from my GA package trying to get into overwintered hives? Thoughts? 

Spotted maple pollen coming in this weekend too.


----------



## woodsy

My hive of Ga. package bees that I purchased last May made it through a tough winter so far up here. We had 26 below zero 
at one point in DEC/Jan and the bottom entrance was wide open, plus it snowed a total of nine feet. I did eventually put a entrance reducer in it. 
No mite treatments either. I am shocked they survived of course. They went into winter in 2 deeps (8 frame) and 3 full honey supers. 
Looking in recently some were in the top box and put some mountain camp style sugar on paper just in case they get hungry.


----------



## Bob J

Scitfrostbite said:


> Spotted drones coming and going this weekend here in MA. Isn’t a little early for that? Could they be from my GA package trying to get into overwintered hives? Thoughts?
> 
> Spotted maple pollen coming in this weekend too.


Drones in several of my hives as well when I checked this weekend.... Am thinking we might have an early swarm season.... Reversed boxes and added fondant.... Amazing how fast they are going through it.....


----------



## Scitfrostbite

Last bits of snow has finally melted in the yard. Package still hanging on and taking warmed syrup and sugar bricks. Overwintered hives building up. I'm worried that overwintered might be thinking swarm prep (drones and cooped up because of cold) but too nervous to open things up yet (below freezing nights, 40s days). This weekend will probably reverse boxes and do first inspection on the package (installed March 27th).

Lesson learned yet? My bees are near large wetlands full of swamp/red maples some of which have already flowered. Looking back at notes and experiences from previous seasons, I think a lot (at least some) of my swarm issues has been because of early nectar bound issues. Each year my late April notes say something like- concerned about deeps already nectar bound... lol. I'm beginning to feel like first dandelion is too late for supers in my yard? 

Harvested 5gals of honey out of a triple deep deadout hive!


----------



## Bob J

So much depends on the weather.... Am thinking very little risk to having supers on early this time of year just in case.... Some years it seems that when the weather finally turns warm lots of stuff will suddenly decide to bloom to take advantage of it.... Other years not so much but either way not much down side....


----------



## Cloverdale

Scitfrostbite said:


> Last bits of snow has finally melted in the yard. Package still hanging on and taking warmed syrup and sugar bricks. Overwintered hives building up. I'm worried that overwintered might be thinking swarm prep (drones and cooped up because of cold) but too nervous to open things up yet (below freezing nights, 40s days). This weekend will probably reverse boxes and do first inspection on the package (installed March 27th).
> Lesson learned yet? My bees are near large wetlands full of swamp/red maples some of which have already flowered. Looking back at notes and experiences from previous seasons, I think a lot (at least some) of my swarm issues has been because of early nectar bound issues. Each year my late April notes say something like- concerned about deeps already nectar bound... lol. I'm beginning to feel like first dandelion is too late for supers in my yard?
> 
> Harvested 5gals of honey out of a triple deep deadout hive!


Michael Palmer always says to super early.


----------



## mark2215

3 hives all died over the winter. Lots of mites on the dead bees. Shame on me for not monitoring closer and treating more last year. 3 packages installed half hour ago. Go figure the day the packages show up is the day it snows mid April and rains the rest of the day. The rain stopped and it's almost 45 outside so I went ahead and installed. No problems so far. We'll see how it goes this weekend when I check on the queen. 

I plan on treating in 7 days with OA band heater vaporizer I built this winter. This should be a good start treating before any brood is capped.


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## Bob J

5 packages installed successfully Saturday. Also used the good weather to clean up my dead outs. Had lost all my nucs (6) this past winter and now think it may have been due to Apivar resistant mites. My nuc bottom boards do fit my OAV wand so treated them twice last season with Apivar. Stupidly did not do mite checks and assumed all was well. Deadouts were definitely mite kills with lots of mite frass. IIRC last treatment was late August through September and the nucs at that time were booming. My main hives were treated with OAV and a single treatment with Apivar after removing the honey supers in the summer and fared much better (7 out of 11 alive). Those deadouts appeared to be the usual reasons (starved out and one bad queen (drone layer)) with no sign of mite issues.


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## mark2215

I treated with OA as planned, no problems. I inspected Friday and found all 3 hives doing well with plenty of eggs, larvae, and capped brood. The bees are bringing in lots of pollen but not much blooming yet for nectar sources. I'm feeding with a super of sugar water stores left over from the winter placed above the inner cover.

I installed the packages on some pretty nasty comb from the dead outs. I'm amazed how quickly the bees cleaned everything up, it all looks perfect now. As soon as the first round of bees start emerging I plan on adding the second box and testing for mites.


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## Bob J

Inspected Saturday and everyone is looking good except for one which looks like EFB.... Will treat next weekend.... Packages installed two weeks ago are building up well and lots of pollen/nectar coming in.... Drones are flying so can't imagine swarm season is far off....

Picked up two local nucs yesterday and will be installing this afternoon in my Needham yard. Was an amazing experience picking them up... Beekeeper had an awesome number of very cool and inventive ideas and amazingly strong and healthy hives.


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## Bob J

Swarm season is officially here in eastern Mass.... First reported swarm in the area.... ;- )


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## Bob J

Inspections yesterday went well.... Packages are building up quick with a full deep already and just starting on the second deep. Still feeding as they are still building out frames and we haven't hit the flow yet... Am liking the frame feeders better and better... Easy to fill and minimal drowned bees... Several overwintered hives are very strong and am thinking of splitting next week... The one hive showing signs of IAPV seems to have corrected with no sign of shivering/lethargic bees during this weeks inspection... Added Oxytet to the one hive that is showing signs of EFB.... Nucs installed last week have not really started expanding yet so will need to keep an eye on them....


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## Bob J

Supered up and inspected overwintered and new package hives.... Newly installed Nucs are active and doing well.... Swarm traps are out but nothing yet.... A number of swarms have been reported so we are definitely in the season.... Horse chestnut is blooming but the first big flow for me is usually black locust which isn't showing signs yet.... One overwintered hive is solidly in swarm prep so will need to put on Snelgrove board to see if I can stop it... EFB hive is responding well to Oxytet and looks to be turning around so am keeping my fingers crossed....


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## Bob J

Change one..... Saw black locust just starting to bloom this morning on my commute down 95..... ;- )


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## Scitfrostbite

I’ve developed a bee allergy and have decided to give up beekeeping, not interested in the risk.

Anyone in Hopkinton area interested in my bees and equipment? 

Basically i have a four hive yard. I’ve got two booming double deeps full of bees with supers on (one hive has two of three supers filled). Two other dead out hives fully drawn deeps/partly drawn supers. Everything you would need including bee escapes, snelgrove boards, OAV wand, stainless steel two frame extractor, 5over5 nuc, etc, etc. All of the woodenware is 1-5 yrs old and in excellent shape.

This would be great way for established beek to update some gear and get two healthy hives (one hive Formic Acid treatment completed last week) or this would be a great way for a newbie time warp to ahead a couple of yrs.

I’m looking for a good home for this more than money. But I’m hoping for a small payment to help a little with the sting of giving all this up. 

If anyone is interested, let me know.


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## Scitfrostbite

Hives are getting a new home in Concord. State inspector to inspect the hives before the move.
The hives are full of nectar. One hive has two of three supers full but not capped. New owner is going to have to swap out some frames to combat building nectar bound concerns, strong flow recently. Going to be heavy moving. I’m thinking I could use bee escape 24 hrs before the hives get picked up to make moving easier.


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## Bob J

Scitfrostbite said:


> Hives are getting a new home in Concord. State inspector to inspect the hives before the move.
> The hives are full of nectar. One hive has two of three supers full but not capped. New owner is going to have to swap out some frames to combat building nectar bound concerns, strong flow recently. Going to be heavy moving. I’m thinking I could use bee escape 24 hrs before the hives get picked up to make moving easier.


So sorry to hear you are having to give them up.... :-( Good call to err on the side of being safe!


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## Bob J

Inspection this weekend found 3 of the overwintered hives with eggs in swarm cells... Set up with Snelgrove Method II so am keeping my fingers crossed that I can stop them from swarming.....


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## Scitfrostbite

Expansion? Swarm prep? I thought Metrowest beeks might be interested in my nuc (no bees) for sale on CB- https://boston.craigslist.org/bmw/grd/d/honeybee-hive-nuc/6610856963.html


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## Scitfrostbite

Nuc is gone.


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## Bob J

Snelgrove rocks! All three hives had the swarm cells taken down and appeared to not have swarmed.... Hives in Marshfield and Needham are packing away the honey! No sign of flow in Rockland yet. Nice stretch of weather coming up this week so good chance for the girls to take care of business......


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## Bob J

Hives are all looking great! Flow is on in all yards now... No more signs of swarm preps so hopefully have dodged that bullet.....;- )


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## Bob J

All yards are now packing it away. Love to see that white wax! 
Added supers to several hives and checker boarded. Noticeably less pollen being brought in than last week. One hive showing high mites so will plan to treat next week.


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## kaizen

Anybody harvest any supers yet? I have a few packages from April that are going gangbusters. One has 4 supers and i'm going to have to harvest this weekend i think. Trying to control the size as i have queens coming in 2 weeks. Hopefully no swarms before then. No queen cells on last inspection.


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## Bob J

kaizen said:


> Anybody harvest any supers yet? I have a few packages from April that are going gangbusters. One has 4 supers and i'm going to have to harvest this weekend i think. Trying to control the size as i have queens coming in 2 weeks. Hopefully no swarms before then. No queen cells on last inspection.


Not yet but they are really packing it away in all my yards.... Probably will be extracting in a couple of weeks.... ;- )


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## VickyLynn

One of my hives has 10 deeps full of nectar but only partly capped. Others are filling up but not capped yet. I am anticipating a great harvest.


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## Knisely

Post a picture!!


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## VickyLynn

Oooops! I reread my post after you asked for a picture - I meant 10 _frames!_ I went in yesterday to make sure they weren't going to swarm, not having checked on them for about three weeks. Ten _deeps_ would be a sight to see!


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## Cloverdale

One heck of a tall ladder!


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## kaizen

Got through that heat wave. Harvested a few supers from one hive that is a monster just to make sure they have room. Its still 2 deeps and 3 supers tall and those 3 will be capped in a few weeks. Its a sasatraz queen and i'm really liking their demeanor. Started from a package in april. 

Having an issue at one yard with EFB. Confirmed with test. I can't get a vet to call in a feed order to Mann lake so i can get some terra pro. Anyone know any vets that can authorize one for new hampshire? I can't even get any call backs.


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## wildbranch2007

kaizen said:


> Got through that heat wave. Harvested a few supers from one hive that is a monster just to make sure they have room. Its still 2 deeps and 3 supers tall and those 3 will be capped in a few weeks. Its a sasatraz queen and i'm really liking their demeanor. Started from a package in april.
> 
> Having an issue at one yard with EFB. Confirmed with test. I can't get a vet to call in a feed order to Mann lake so i can get some terra pro. Anyone know any vets that can authorize one for new hampshire? I can't even get any call backs.


top of the page find a vet, put in NH will give you two vets in vt. one also does NH compliments of Criss Crisp Better bee

https://www.hbvc.org/


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## kaizen

wildbranch2007 said:


> top of the page find a vet, put in NH will give you two vets in vt. one also does NH compliments of Criss Crisp Better bee
> 
> https://www.hbvc.org/


yup emailed both of them. no answers. I've offered to bring the hive into my local vets and they still won't .


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## Scitfrostbite

How your mite levels looking in MA? Treatment plans for the Fall? Thanks


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## Alex Madsen

First year beekeeper, my mite levels are low (undetectable) in Lowell MA. I keep retesting thinking I messed something up. I did an OA dribble treatment during a brood break in Mid July. Will do OA dribble again in late fall. 

Alex


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## Tigger19687

Is it bad form to bump this? I have not seen a MA specific post and want to keep this going so I can learn more in my area 
If 1.5 years is necroposting, I apologize


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## Pepperell Bee and Honey

Tigger19687 said:


> Is it bad form to bump this? I have not seen a MA specific post and want to keep this going so I can learn more in my area
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If 1.5 years is necroposting, I apologize


Hey Tigger! New bee keeper from ma here. I think it would be great to get a ma specific post going. I definitely have more questions than answers!


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