what would you do

[joctcl]

I've been thinking about this strongly over these last few days. When starting out, I told myself I will defo do this but one week went to the next and just kept forgetting. I'll learnt a hard lesson by not keeping notes

No wonder your posts were all over the place.

pm'd you a link

 

[irishguy]

Yep, I did the same, but I only had one colony and my lists of notes for the group listing what we would be doing etc, so I could always refer to those, but this time I will def be keeping hive notes. Especially as I am introducing new people and the group looks to me as the main beekeeper for what to do and why ( God help us! )

I thought I had a great memory until I got into bee keeping lol.

Are you plans just to stick to one hive or get a few more next year

 

[irishguy]

pm'd you a link

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Trying to think of everything else I forgot those QC's whatever, stick to the same plan now go in Sunday, see if any QC's on the introduced frames. Check the QC's you already know about and my thought would be to knock them down and see what's inside If (and it seems you are certain) you believe there's no way there were eggs in the hive 19- 12 days ago. If there were eggs you hadn't noticed good chance that QC would have emerged anyway! I'm more concerned with the ongoing welfare of the Q+ hives at the moment and getting them winter ready - anything else is a bonus.

 

[irishguy]

pm'd you a link

 

[irishguy]

Trying to think of everything else I forgot those QC's whatever, stick to the same plan now go in Sunday, see if any QC's on the introduced frames. Check the QC's you already know about and my thought would be to knock them down and see what's inside If (and it seems you are certain) you believe there's no way there were eggs in the hive 19- 12 days ago. If there were eggs you hadn't noticed good chance that QC would have emerged anyway! I'm more concerned with the ongoing welfare of the Q+ hives at the moment and getting them winter ready - anything else is a bonus.

Ok, will stick to the plan thou them eggs may have hatched by then. Is there a chance the virgin queen will fly away with the bees before my next inspection. If you had of remembered, would you have told me to knock them down?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

If you had of remembered, would you have told me to knock them down?

Probably - but no harm leaving them there until Sunday

 

[pargyle]

Ok, will stick to the plan thou them eggs may have hatched by then. Is there a chance the virgin queen will fly away with the bees before my next inspection.

Not very likely ... it would appear that there isn't a queen in there at present so if the queen does emerge before Sunday she will probably take up residence and start thinking about mating flights. So ... do as JBM suggests, leave them till Sunday and then report back what's in the queen cells.

With a bit of luck you could be going into winter with three good hives ... and with a bit of good husbandry next spring you could be looking at a nice honey crop if the year is as good as this year.

 

[kazmcc]

I thought I had a great memory until I got into bee keeping lol.

Are you plans just to stick to one hive or get a few more next year

I don't have any at the moment ( must remember to change my profile ) I used to run my childrens schools hive but we lost them one winter. The group is back up and running though, looking towards getting some come spring. Got a lot to do before then, like find the money lol, but I'd like to start with 2 this time.

Question time, here comes yet another inspired question from me. If a colony has been desperately Q- for some time, or had a drone laying queen, would they, in desperation, build a qc around a drone egg? Or would this never happen?

 

[Erichalfbee]

would they, in desperation, build a qc around a drone egg? Or would this never happen?

Yes they do

 

[kazmcc]

I thought I'd read about it somewhere. Could have been anywhere lol, I read a lot of stuff

 

[fabindia]

I find this thread totally bewildering. As a new beek, aren't I just glad I went on a course, joined my local association and bought just one nuc and hives them. Seems to me trying to look after so many combinations of colonies is just too much for a new beek

 

[pargyle]

Yes they do

Unfortunately, they don't emerge as queens ....

 

[pargyle]

I find this thread totally bewildering.

Well you were not alone there .... you are taking a sensible approach - it's hard enough managing one or a couple of hives in your first year let alone six !

 

[irishguy]

I find this thread totally bewildering. As a new beek, aren't I just glad I went on a course, joined my local association and bought just one nuc and hives them. Seems to me trying to look after so many combinations of colonies is just too much for a new beek

Sure being a sensible new bee keeper myself i thought id read up on bees/ watch documentaries for 2 years, join my local association, take the beginners course aswell, buy 2 over wintered nucs as suggested by many folk in my association and on here and my first year would be a doodle. Turns out bee keeping is just like life, no matter what you plan, theres going to be hicups along the way wether you like it or not. Its not as if i just jumped into this blind and just tried to guess my way through it all thou im still happy with the out come this year even thou its been a roller-coaster. All my concern is now is to get these bees big enough so they over winter ok and next year ill be more experienced for swarming. Hopefully you yourself wont have to rush on here come next year and need the help ive needed. Thankfully this forum has the people on it thats going to help pull me out of this mess im in or id be in **** creek.

 

[GlenJ]

Sure being a sensible new bee keeper myself i thought id read up on bees/ watch documentaries for 2 years, join my local association, take the beginners course aswell, buy 2 over wintered nucs as suggested by many folk in my association and on here and my first year would be a doodle. Turns out bee keeping is just like life, no matter what you plan, theres going to be hicups along the way wether you like it or not. Its not as if i just jumped into this blind and just tried to guess my way through it all thou im still happy with the out come this year even thou its been a roller-coaster. All my concern is now is to get these bees big enough so they over winter ok and next year ill be more experienced for swarming. Hopefully you yourself wont have to rush on here come next year and need the help ive needed. Thankfully this forum has the people on it thats going to help pull me out of this mess im in or id be in **** creek.

Well said, and all praise to the people who take the time to sort us out

 

[Nige.Coll]

Well you were not alone there .... you are taking a sensible approach - it's hard enough managing one or a couple of hives in your first year let alone six !

That depends on the person and the support they have.

 

[oliver90owner]

Quote from your post of Dec 27 2012:

As for doing a course, im not one for doing courses,joining associations etc.. as i just learn myself along teh way. I know sometimes it isnt the best approach but its just the way i am and its held me well throughout the years. Ill get plenty of info on the net and bokks ill be purchasing and going it alone with some help on here.

Seems to me that nothing has changed thus far. Other posts indicate a decided lack of reading, too.

We will see how you get on, now you seem at least to be listening to advice a little bit. A case of the leopard needing to change his spots, I think.

 

[Teemore]

Irishguy (and others),
A wee suggestion with regard to inspection notes for your colonies.

Get a roll of broad masking tape. Tear off a piece about 100mm in length and stick it on top of the crownboard of each colony. When you lift the roof off the colony in preparation for an inspection, write the date on the masking tape (biro works well on masking tape). Go through the hive and I would suggest you give some thought to Hoopers famous 5 questions as you inspect the colony.
Write a brief note of the inspection on the masking tape when you close the hive up again. Use some sort of shorthand to keep things concise e.g. QS - Queen seen. 6F BIAS - 6 frames of brood in all stages. QCs F5,6 & 7 - Queen cells on frames 5, 6 and 7. Refer to these notes when you go back to the hive. If something doesn't seem right, make a note of it.

 

[Nige.Coll]

Without keeping notes it descends into chaos .
I learned that very quickly.
How hard is it to take a notepad with you and a pencil or pen.
You don't have to write a novel about each hive a few lines will do.