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A New Beekeeper and I need help ASAP

6K views 15 replies 3 participants last post by  Ish 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi I'm Ish, a new beekeeper from Merrimack, New Hampshire. 4 months ago I ordered a package of Saskatraz honeybees, they were so calm and fun to work with. I used the vertical log beehive, they loved it, everything went prefect and I honesty at some point thought that my beehive is thriving and doing great. Long story short and 4 months after, I went to inspect the beehive and suddenly I only saw a very few bees, shortly after I figured that I had a swarm! but that's not the problem tho I knew that a swarm in the fall is bad. Fast forward, 3 days ago I lost hope and I started harvesting the honey that was in the hive but the queen is still hanging in there with a very few bees so I left a good amount of honey for them and today I saw some yellow jackets going in and out the hive consuming honey only not killing the remaining bees. The question is should I keep the hive or should I let the queen out? Guys I really need your help, your thoughts/ advice, anything would really help in this miserable situation, please and thank you.


I really am looking forward to hearing from you guys ASAP.

Best,
Ish
 
#2 ·
Ish, that queen needs a small nucleus hive and some more bees. do you have any beekeepers near you that can get you a couple of frames of bees and eggs? And can you get or build a nuc hive, get her small, you are in the north and she has to have a lot of bee bodies to keep her warm. Do you have a local bee club that can help match you up with bees for the queen?
 
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#3 · (Edited)
Thank you so much Gypsi, I really appreciate it. I will contact a local beekeeper and ask them if they would be able to help me out with that! However I was checking on the bees and just got back, I noticed a lot of different honey bees species going in and out the hive!! Plus some bumblebees, with some yellow jackets as well! It’s weird, because I know that honeybees and bumblebee can’t get together! Any suggestions how to get rid of these intruders?
 
#9 ·
Ish, you say you have a vertical long hive do you mean you have a horizontal long hive, reason I ask is because I built a couple of horizontal long hives this spring and put a couple nuc's in them in mid June (which was kind of late) Im in Michigan. Anyway I have been looking for others to share notes with on keeping bees in horizontal hives. So far they are doing good, even though the hives are made of 2x12's I put 2" insulation on each of the follower boards on either side of the frames, put the insulation on bottom and will put on back and front around the end of this month. I just want to keep in touch with other horizontal hive beekeepers to pick their brains and experience. Good luck with your hives, hopefully you will find a local beekeeper that can help you out.
 
#10 ·
Hey Larry, thank you so much I appreciate it. The beehive I built was a log beehive not long! I tried to implement the natural beekeeping method by building a log like beehive except that the hive I built was hexagonal log hive. I am planning to take the horizontal beehive route and build one next spring, I will keep in touch and give you updates with some photos too.
Again thank you Larry.

best,
Ish
 
#11 ·
Introducing queen to new bees. Generally I have the bees already in the hive, and I put the queen in a queen clip or a queen cage an introduce her, watching how the bees react (obviously a suit and gloves are a good idea). Because you won't have a queen cage with candy cap, you will have to release her if the bees seem to be trying to groom and tend her, not trying to murder her. As long as they have been away from their queen half a day anyway, they will probably accept her just fine, and you can open the clip and release her. you can sense their attitude toward her but I can't explain exactly how. I hopefully you will know
 
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#12 · (Edited)
Thank you so much Gypsi I really appreciate it, unfortunately I lost the queen so I will start fresh all over again next spring hoping to avoid the mistakes I’ve done this season. Lesson learned, plus I will be doing something new by using the horizontal beehive instead of the conventional hive. By the way, what type of bees are you keeping? I’ve dealt with Saskatraz, throughout my short experience with this type I was hoping that Saskatraz bees were more resistant to Varroa mites than other species but they suffered. So, to the best of your knowledge which specie do you think is better in terms of mites resistance? Let me know please thank you.
Best,
Ish
 
#13 ·
i have bought Beeweaver queens, they are fairly hygenic and I have survivor bees from swarms. I treat with OAV for mites a couple of times a year. Because there are few beekeepers in my area, and no commercial beekeepers that I am aware of, I don't have visiting bees bringing me mites.

My bees are southern bees, Beeweaver bees make small tight winter clusters, they would not live where you are
 
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#14 ·
i have bought Beeweaver queens, they are fairly hygenic and I have survivor bees from swarms. I treat with OAV for mites a couple of times a year. Because there are few beekeepers in my area, and no commercial beekeepers that I am aware of, I don't have visiting bees bringing me mites.

My bees are southern bees, Beeweaver bees make small tight winter clusters, they would not live where you are
We had a very dry summer up here this year and the honey production was not good. I hope 2021 will be better and I wish you the best of luck this winter.
Best,
Ish
 
#15 ·
And good luck to you next year Ish. I'm hoping I get to check on my bees this weekend, we have a huge goldenrod flow on right now, I don't want to bother them too much, but I need to change their bottom boards out. The advantage to Lang equipment, you can break it down and change it out and everything fits
 
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