Honey Bees

[Barndog56]

So my neighbor to the north has 4 hives he started this spring. Lots of bees in my buckwheat and clover all year, which is fine by me of course. Just now I was starting up the sprinkler in my apple tree nursery and I hear a buzzing sound approaching. I look up and see a large cloud of bees overhead, traveling south. There isn't anything notable blooming in that direction, for at least 2 miles.

Did he just lose a lot of his bees?

 

[Peeps]

So my neighbor to the north has 4 hives he started this spring. Lots of bees in my buckwheat and clover all year, which is fine by me of course. Just now I was starting up the sprinkler in my apple tree nursery and I hear a buzzing sound approaching. I look up and see a large cloud of bees overhead, traveling south. There isn't anything notable blooming in that direction, for at least 2 miles.

Did he just lose a lot of his bees?

That would be a swarm. If they are from one of his hives they won’t be back. They left to look for a new home.

 

[TreeDaddy]

That would be a swarm. If they are from one of his hives they won’t be back. They left to look for a new home.

Interesting about the time of year

They usually swarm here in late may/june

bill

 

[Barndog56]

Well it was almost June before we had our spring. Don't think he had his hives by then.

 

[Peeps]

They will swarm at this time if they run out of room in their hive.

 

[TreeDaddy]

That would really suck

bill

 

[Catscratch]

My buddy who raises bees has them swarm all the time. He's ready to cash it in and tell them to bug off!

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[Merle Hawggard]

I found this swarm Saturday while I was out and about at an old home place.
I'm allergic to bees, but also silly enough to try and catch them.
Chuck came over and really had no trouble getting them in a cardboard box to transport them in and he picked up a deep box from a beekeeper in Paragould too.
They left the box Sunday morning and settled in a plum tree in my yard.
I picked up a device a friend had that is supposed to allow the workers to leave the hive, but not the queen, then put them in myself last night in the dark.
As of this morning they're using the hive box so maybe I've got a free hive to move to the farm next spring.

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[SwampCat]

I found this swarm Saturday while I was out and about at an old home place.
I'm allergic to bees, but also silly enough to try and catch them.
Chuck came over and really had no trouble getting them in a cardboard box to transport them in and he picked up a deep box from a beekeeper in Paragould too.
They left the box Sunday morning and settled in a plum tree in my yard.
I picked up a device a friend had that is supposed to allow the workers to leave the hive, but not the queen, then put them in myself last night in the dark.
As of this morning they're using the hive box so maybe I've got a free hive to move to the farm next spring.

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Hope for a bountiful goldenrod bloom this fall. Fall swarms, trap outs, and tear outs are problematic because they have a short time to build comb and put on enough honey to last through the winter. Looks like a good sized swarm for this time of year.

 

[Merle Hawggard]

I found this swarm Saturday while I was out and about at an old home place.
I'm allergic to bees, but also silly enough to try and catch them.
Chuck came over and really had no trouble getting them in a cardboard box to transport them in and he picked up a deep box from a beekeeper in Paragould too.
They left the box Sunday morning and settled in a plum tree in my yard.
I picked up a device a friend had that is supposed to allow the workers to leave the hive, but not the queen, then put them in myself last night in the dark.
As of this morning they're using the hive box so maybe I've got a free hive to move to the farm next spring.

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Hope for a bountiful goldenrod bloom this fall. Fall swarms, trap outs, and tear outs are problematic because they have a short time to build comb and put on enough honey to last through the winter. Looks like a good sized swarm for this time of year.

That is pretty much what the guy we picked up the deep box from said. He even suggested feeding them a 1 to 1 solution of sugar water till Oct 1st.

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[ksgobbler]

Hope for a bountiful goldenrod bloom this fall. Fall swarms, trap outs, and tear outs are problematic because they have a short time to build comb and put on enough honey to last through the winter. Looks like a good sized swarm for this time of year.

They say here a swarm after July 1 wont make it.

 

[TreeDaddy]

Great stuff,Merle

good luck!!!!

bill

 

[Peeps]

Did another pull of honey. Ended up with 28 jars this time. The ladies are putting in some good work this year.

 

[H20fwler]

We will pull honey here when the soybean leaves start to turn in a few weeks, I'm looking forward to it!

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

The goldenrod blooms this year by me are crazy. They all seem to have a lot more “tops” to them than most years


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[Merle Hawggard]

So far so good on my hive. When we first started feeding them you couldn't find an empty spot around the feeder for another bee and it looked like 20 were behind each 1 waiting on their turn.
Today only a few were still at it. Most were foraging away from the hive and I noticed loaded pollen sacks for the first time on returning bees too.

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[SwampCat]

Took about 200 lbs today off my hives.

 

[kpr]

Scott, I didn't know you had beehives. I've have been into bees for 17 years. I am retired now so next year I am booming out with my bees.
Bees are expensive now, the money is in selling nucleus hives. I am not a hive splitter, I am a Frame Puller. If you do frame pulling you will almost never have a swarm. To much to write it all on here.

 

[TreeDaddy]

Don't you pull frames to split a hive?

bill

 

[TreeDaddy]

pollen starting to flow here

What do you recommend for honey left over winter?

I have close to 3 supers that the bees didn't use

Should i spin it down?

bill