Queens coming tomorrow

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Vance G
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Queens coming tomorrow

Unread post by Vance G »

Getting twenty queens in tomorrow from a local commercial beek who winters in California or more correctly summers in Montana. What always amazes me is that his queens hit the comb laying after release! Even some in the summer that he has had banked long enough he gives them to me. I decided to requeen my slow rollers and make some splits on those who will split themselves. Then there is the hive that totally tore me up two days ago. Of course it was the best colony I own in every particular but one! I have never had a worse one and it is going to be split four ways to get all those over aggressive workers in making babyfood instead of out hunting me! Forecast is in the seventies so I might get away from it. I panicked a couple weeks ago when I saw how booming the bees were and all the drone brood capped. Everything imaginable is bursting into bloom here. Box elder to Caragana and lilac buds made but not yet open. All the fruit trees are bursting into bloom too. Just wish it would rain!

And yes, the diary page does look nice. Where do you come up with the daily quotes? I used to have a calendar 'The Daily Curmudgeon' that supplied me with such gems.
Allen Dick
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Re: Queens coming tomorrow

Unread post by Allen Dick »

Where do you come up with the daily quotes?
I collect them from around the 'net when I come across them and keep a file.

The background picture was taken with my phone.
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Vance G
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Re: Queens coming tomorrow

Unread post by Vance G »

I was doing all those things you spoke of today but the forecast here for ten days would allow one to set out tomatoes. My Italian yard was booming on. No sign of swarm preparations but I bet my adding thirds underneath them with some extra feed are part of the reason for that. Quite a few drones and a lot capped.

I run the mann lake plastic frames and my bees are always needy in the drone comb area so all bridge comb between boxes was purple eyed drones. I was really impressed with my Late August Apiguard treatment because I did not see one of them nasty little varroa beasties. I was worried that bumping my queens ahead two weeks was a mistake but it looks like it will work well. Lots and lots of brood in my well fed and pattie fed colonies. The splits are setting in three day nucs with double screened bottoms over the unsplit strong hives and all wrapped back up together.

I only have three queens left and two people ask now if I have any to share. I only really need one to requeen the nasty defensive bunch. I thought splitting up that gang would help tame them down. They are too nasty to have close to the farm house! I may have to move them out along a fruit tree row where they can plot evil all by themselves.
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karen
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Re: Queens coming tomorrow

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I thought splitting up that gang would help tame them down.
I have had some very defensive hives over the years and splitting has always taken the wind out of their sails. I split them and then after a day or two go through the splits to find and pinch the queen. It is difficult to find the queen when a hive is defensive and bees are all over my veil making it hard to see. The general chaos of the bigger hive getting all riled up has the queen running and hiding too. Going through a smaller hive makes it much easier to find the queen. I also use a cappings scratcher to eliminate any drone brood in the hive while splitting so I know they are not out there in the gene pool.
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Vance G
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Re: Queens coming tomorrow

Unread post by Vance G »

The capping scratcher is a good idea. Most of the drones are between the frames in the burr comb and are naturally dealt with. I am not looking forward to this! But I think I am going to put on all the gear I own and shake them all thru a queen excluder and just be done with it.
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Re: Queens coming tomorrow

Unread post by Allen Dick »

Personally, I'd wait for the middle of a good flying day and move it aside, then replace it with a small hive with a good queen.

I'd then move each box of the nasty hive back onto a floor and leave them a day.

Usually, the worst of the bees will go to the new hive and the boxes set back will be more manageable.

You may find that the hive that got all the nasty bees is not nearly as nasty as the one with the original queen was.

That has been my experience.
Allen Dick, RR#1 Swalwell, Alberta, Canada T0M 1Y0
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Vance G
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Re: Queens coming tomorrow

Unread post by Vance G »

I will remember that for next time but I shook the hive thru a queen excluder into a box with a frame of brood under it. I was in a black tornado for the duration but I was well suited and only got stung a time or two. I was much more particular about suiting up than I normally am and toward the end they seemed to get dispirited and lose the sharp edge. A trick I heard on one of Mike Palmers you tube videos is making a rim of duct tape around the receiver box to keep the shaken bees from rolling up and over the side of the box. It worked like a charm. After I had all the bees not in the air in the boxes, I smoked the bees down thru the extractor and there was this big beautiful light colored queen with the long large abdomen calmly standing in the remnant of her flock.

I took the box and excluder over and set it on the back of my truck to put things back together and dumped the bees in the front of the side by side hives on the ground. They most all went in one side! So I took that hive and moved it twenty feet away and let the aerial contingent come home to the half of the brood in the remaining hive.

Then for the second time, I found a fat laying queen had flown the coop! The duct tape was still in place and a small contingent of nurse bees and drones were all that was left in the box. I wonder if I will have to deal with blondie again? I guess in four days I will look for eggs if the bees have not yet released the new queens or if one of them is dead in the cage.
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karen
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Re: Queens coming tomorrow

Unread post by karen »

I am sure she returned, I don't know how may times I have opened a hive and had the queen fly. I close it up and leave it alone for a day or two and when I return she is there. Some summers the queen are flighty.
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Vance G
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Re: Queens coming tomorrow

Unread post by Vance G »

Then I have to go back in that hot box and find her! I won't put up with that hot a hive. Maybe I need to rescue the introduced queen if she is still alive and make another little split to bank her til I figure it out.
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