buzzzzzzzzzz new adventure

[MoonShadows]

Just go the November/December issue of Countryside Magazine, and there is an article on Winer Beekeeping..

 

[addy1]

I see them offering a bunch of learn how to keep bees free downloads. Have not found the Winer article yet.

The hives are starting to smell like butterscotch, that is how we know they are processing the golden rod they have collected. Some say it smells like old dirty socks. To us butter scotch. Some beekeeps collect the goldrod honey, we leave it for them for the winter.

We watched the workers stinging a drone, two of them were working on dragging out the drone that is twice the size of them.

This time of year all drones are removed from the hive, they are alive only during the brooding season. They are fed by the workers, they don't feed themselves, their only job is to mate with the queen, after which they die.

You feel sorry for the drones as they hang on for dear life. The queen quits laying them on the instructions of the workers. But there are still some around that get deleted. The hive doesn't want to waste food stores on them., during the winter.

We found a white drone, a bit ago.

Our new stack of sugar bags.............which are all gone again. Most likely 2-3 more intense feedings.

 

[MoonShadows]

The winter bee keeping article is in the Nov/Dec issue of the print magazine. I don't think they post them on the website until after the magazine issue expires.

 

[addy1]

aww ok thanks!

 

[addy1]

Well, here we are rv camping and in a tree 15 feet from our trailer a swarm lands. We called a beekeep but he said he could not get them. Tree has poison ivy vines on it, and a serious slope down to the lake.

So we are watching these poor bees cluster trying to keep the queen warm, pouring rain yesterday.

So now we are trying to figure out a way to save them. They will die without our help. No nectar flow going on, they need to find a place to live, make cells, fill with honey.

So we are going to give it a go................home depot here we come, get screen netting for our faces, gloves for the hands, a bucket / trashcan to haul them home in (need holes for air)

We have spare comb, spare capped honey, we could set them up so they would live, if we manage to pull this off!

 

[j.w]

@addy1 Wow you guys are really crazy! Crazy but a good kind of crazy for wanting to try to save those poor bees. Nobody else would do this.
You were put there to do this and hope you can succeed

 

[addy1]

Well can't just let them die, they have drawn comb in the tree, we were cutting some of the branches and a poop load of the bees dropped. (they all flew back to the cluster) There were three pieces of comb drawn on the branch. They made the tree their home.
No way would they survive the winter.

If we succeed they will get a nice dry box with drawn comb and capped honey and food. It will still be a if on surviving the winter, she needs to lay like crazy to have enough bees to survive the winter.

Right now the queens are laying the winter bees, larger, fatter and they survive 3-5 months. Where the summer bees survive 30ish days.

 

[Tula]

Well, I don't really understand this bee predicament, but I'm guessing they're thanking their lucky stars they "camped" near you

 

[addy1]

Some times the hive gets stuck. Queen injured , could not fly any more, no new safe home found, so they set up home where they landed. Bees are not made to survive hanging on a tree branch.

We kept debating trying to save them. Spent a bunch at home depot for the attempt. All stuff we can use later.

Yesterday cut small branches to let the last cut be a clean, we hope, drop into the large black trash bag. Then into a trash can. Then home into a hive body. Hoping we don't kill the glue of the hive the queen.

 

[addy1]

The 16 foot cutter we bought just reached it.
Wore our heavy coats. Bought gloves to save our hands. The bees never tried to sting us. Very calm even we us messing with them..

 

[addy1]

Their new temporary home!

 

[addy1]

You can feel the heat coming out of the bucket. We have door screen holding them in. The screen was our face protection first!


Here is a short video of our craziness!

 

[addy1]

Well we saw a whole lot of bees gathering on the ground. So just in case the queen was there suited back up with hoody door screen face mask empty box scooped what we could up. Boy are they po'd now!

 

[Tula]

Oh my !!! So did you capture enough,so they might make it once back home at your place?

 

[cas]

I hope the hive makes it with all the work you are doing to save it.