Gutted

[whatisbiscuits]

I've just had the most awful beekeeping day. I share a hive with a partner, and on Tuesday we put a bee escape on our super, with the plan to get the bees out of the super before extracting yummy honey today. We first got a hive last August, so we've spent a long time waiting for this day

Comments

[squid_ink]

oh man... I'm so sorry to hear this. I've seen hives that have been robbed, it's enough to make you want to cry :(

No honey for me this year, either.. I went queenless in BOTH HIVES so RuPaul and Devine (the hives) were off to a VERY slow start this year

Just out of curiosity, why did you go with the bee escape? Most beekeepers I know just shake off the bees or use BeeQuick on the honey supers..?Maybe if the bees had been in the super to defend their turf, there would have been no robbing, or at least less?

[whatisbiscuits]

We had the queenless problem earlier this year too, but someone kindly gave us some more bees after ours struggled. Queenless in two hives seems very unlucky!

We went with the bee escape because that's what the other beekeepers in our apiary recommended and do themselves. Next year we plan to just brush them off, especially as we have gentle bees. How does BeeQuick work, I haven't heard of that?

[squid_ink]

here's the link :
http://www.bee-quick.com/

I'm a sissy, and I love my bees. Most old timey beeks give me odd looks because I don't want to shake or brush the ladies off the supers when I remove them. It upsets them AND it upsets me

The Bee Quick really does work!

[fourth_moon]

That's awful - a few wasps managed to make off with all the honey? But I#d think that this time of the year there'd be pounds of it in the hive!

I'm really, really sorry. Such a disappointment! I can easily imagine it.

[whatisbiscuits]

It was a full super, we should have got about 30 jars out of it. The hive is in an apiary with about twenty other hives, the other bees probably helped the wasps out. Sigh.

Sad to hear.

[mr_stubbly]

My father had an apiary when I was young I miss the sensual experience of biting into warm full comb.

I want to start a hive but the nursery behind us uses so many chemicals I fear they wont succeed. I may find a more isolated property.
I kept bees at a nature center and loved it! (I'm a Naturalist among other things.
I want to help bees if I can. Your work is admirable. Keep plugging away!

Re: Sad to hear.

[whatisbiscuits]

Thanks, I hope you manage to find somewhere suitable. Some people here keep bees on allotments.

[jozafiend]

Wow that's awful, so devastating. I have a side question for you-- you said you started your hive last August. Was that problematic at all? I don't have my own hive yet and people keep telling me to start in spring but that I won't have a harvest the first year. I live in NY so maybe a hive doesn't have enough time to establish itself between August and snow? Sorry again for your thieving wasps...

[whatisbiscuits]

The bees were fine over winter, though they did need feeding with candy, and I would suggest you do the same as their honey stores won't be big enough. I think it's not the best time of year to start off but it is possible. It depends how many bees you're starting with, the smaller the colony the harder it is for them to keep each other warm. We started with a full colony of bees rather than a nucleus.

[jozafiend]

ah gotcha, thanks for the tips.

Bee Removal

[jack00108]

Removing bees from your home is a very difficult and dangerous task if you attempt to do so yourself. Many times what seems to be only a few bees turns out to be a beehive occupied by 10,000 to 50,000 bees. A swarm of bees typically has 5,000 bees and is about the size of a basketball. A swarm will usually remain on a tree or some other external structure for a couple of day and move on. If the bees don.t leave within a few days, you need to contact a professional as soon as possible.

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