Aborted split!

[histopicker]

I have been watching one of my hives very closely this spring knowing it is going to swarm. I have inspected it every 8-10 days in anticipation of splitting it as soon as it has viable queen cells and plenty of drone's.
I started this inspection just knowing this would be the day. There are tons of drone, the hive is so full of bees I don't know how they all fit, but no queen cells yet. I found two queen cups they had just built that were empty; no eggs or larvae. When I found the queen i placed her into a topbar nucleus box and then had to put her back into the hive when I found no queen cells.
Here is the video if you are interested. You might be amazed at the number of bees this early in the year.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0mQTXYgQzE

[pipewrench]

I enjoyed the video very much thank you for taking the time to make it

[Deleted]

YIKES!!!!!!, I'm gonna need to think about this bee thing some more.

A buddy's wife is getting into bee's, I believe their ordering some. She deliver's mail, and has a bee-keeper on her route. That guy, gave them three complete hives, and a bunch of equipment. Their looking to keep 2 of the hives, and offered one to me. An of course in my new homesteading mania, I said yes. I might have bit off more than I chew with these things ?

No plans as to get the hive going this year, as I'm not prepared, and I'm not going to dive into this with out getting hip on what I'm trying to do. These are the stack-able hives. White boxes stacked on each other. Each one already has a big honey cash inside of them. I haven't got my hands on it yet, but love to post pic's of it when I get it, so I could have you look at the stuff and tell me if I need to do anything to it or if it's good to go. All the boxes seem to be in good condition.

Histo, do you have to regularly check the hive, I was in hopes of pretty much setting this up, an let the bee's do their thing, and I get free honey.

In my yard we have a ton of flowering plants, and a peach tree, my neighbor on right has a big apple tree and flowering plants. There's countless gardens and flowering plants in my neighborhood. So I'm in high hopes there is plenty of food for my future bee's, but are there any plants I could grow that would be beneficial for the bee's? Is there anything I can do to my yard to benefit the bee's. I want happy bee's and to be successful with keeping a urban hive. I have no plans on marketing any product, just want good all natural/non pasteurized honey.

[histopicker]

I hate to break it to ya Sog but, you do have to work with the bees some and no, they are not just honey making machines. The first year with your new hive it will not take to much effort. You will likely start with a package of bees,(three pounds of bees and a queen). After you place them in the hive they are weak and need to be fed sugar syrup for about a month or so until they raise enough brood to forage for their own food. You start them in only one box. After about two months they should have grown in numbers enough to add the second brood chamber, you have to check inside the hive to make sure they are ready to expand. This second box should get them through summer and allow them to build up enough stores to make it through their first winter. No, you probably don't get any honey the first year from a package start.You will probably have to treat for small hive beetle and Varroa mite in the fall. If they survive the winter they will build up fast in the spring. This is the year you will get honey. In the spring when the pollen and nectar start to come on strong, you need to do 10 day checks to prevent swarming. You have to make sure they have room to expand upwards. Generally over the winter they will empty out the bottom box and you will find them in the top box. You will have to switch the boxes at the right time so they will fill the empty box with brood again. When they have this box going strong again you will be able to add a honey super. If they fill this super up you add another. All the honey in the supers is yours, everything in the two deep brood boxes is theirs. It does not take tons of work but you might spend an hour a month in the hive. It takes some planning on your part to be successful.
As for growing beneficial plants for the bees, sure, there are lots of them. I like growing the long blooming shrubs and herbs.
The fruit trees only benefit the bees for a few short weeks. I like Russian sage or Texas sage in the area, the girls love it.

As a side note, it seems your bees will not visit your own garden. Just saying.

Here is an interesting article on getting started.
www.afuturewithbees.com/resources/tips-tricks-2/59-diy-week-by-week-guideline-for-managing-your-new-package-of-bees

[rendezvous]

Very cool video!    Looking forward to watch the whole process...

[Deleted]

Thanks, Histo, I like the time line and the tips and tricks, saved that to my favorites. Like I said,I have no plans as of even making an attempt on them, this year, I just want to be ready for when I get some. First I want to get my hands on this hive, so I can go through it, making sure what I have, is in good shape to accept some new bee's. Right now I don't need another project, but the one's I'm working on are getting closer to complete, so I'll need a new here soon.

Once a month is no problem, I just don't want to have to be in the hive every other day.

Thanks for reminding me this is going to be a joint venture between my bee's an me, the education will be great, I don't know squat about bee's, so this is definitely going to be all new an exciting.

[histopicker]

Sog; when you get your hives you need to make sure they are sealed shut tight to prevent wax moth from destroying your combs. You can actually store your frames in the freezer for a while to kill any eggs or larvae from the moths or small hive beetle.

[bk]

Mar 27, 2016 9:08:54 GMT -5 histopicker said:

I hate to break it to ya ____ but, you do have to work with the bees some and no, they are not just honey making machines. <snip>  It takes some planning on your part to be successful. 

Really GREAT words of a wise beek.  Don't let it fall on deaf ears.  They take time and effort.  And there is a big difference between having bees and being a beekeeper.

Thanks for the words of wisdom, histopicker.

Good luck with your bees this year, Swampers - and keep your posts and questions coming.

[trappermick]

I have no experience with bee keeping and enjoyed the video a lot. I found it very interesting. I was invited to catch/capture a wild bee hive this Sunday and wanted to read a little about it first. The video was much more my style than reading.