Problem in the bee hive
Ugh.
One of my hives is suddenly queenless. Yellow jackets are everywhere, including inside the hive. AND I have something funky going on with the pollen. That's shadows in the shot above, not raggedy comb. I took the pic in bright daylight with the sun directly behind me (so I could see into the cells). I avoided catching my own shadow as best I could but alas.
I'm going to consult with a guy in my bee keeper club about whether I should re-queen or combine the queenless hive with the other one.
I replaced my screen inner cover, which allows access along both sides of the entire length, with a solid inner cover, which allows access only at one small point in the front. I also put an entrance reducer in place. This way the honey bees only have to defend against the yellow jackets in a couple of strategic locations, rather than across the entire entrance and down both long sides of the inner cover. Makes it harder to bring in pollen but I think we're in crisis mode at the moment.
And I have *no* idea what this stuff is on the pollen. Looks like mold or fungus of some sort. Going to ask my bee keeper guy about that, too, and consult the folks on the beekeeping forum at Homesteading Today. My stress meter just jumped :(
Labels: bees
posted by Leslie @ 2:40 PM
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8 Comments:
Sounds bad, but I don't know much about bees! Hope it all works out...cold weather is coming fast!
I'm sorry that your bees are having problems, hope they are able to right themselves soon.
You are back..you are back..you ARE back!!! Where were you??? : )
I will ask our beekeeper freind for you. We lost one hive in the summer.
Leslie - Here is what I heard back from our beekeeper friend. He is an expert and should help out with your hives. Good luck! > Hafiz.
"Sometimes when a hive goes queenless and the bees are gone
you can get mold and things like that because there are no bees there to take care of things, not a problem at all, just put a new hive in it and the bees will clean it up in a few hours. Frank"
Wow, thanks for the comments folks. I just got burned out on the blogging thing. It quit being fun and felt like an obligation... I felt guilty when I didn't blog, so I just quit for a while.
I combined the queenless hive with my other hive (I only have two) and now I have an uber-mondo hive deluxe (TM). I'll blog about that soon. And WeekendFarmer, you're right - the combined hive got that pollen cleaned up in no time flat. They are industrious little critters, for sure!
Hello,
I enjoyed reading about your chickens and more. You blogs are well detailed and informative, which is nice. I purchased 6 RI Red pullets over the springtime and have had eggs ever since. Fox got 3 and lost 2 to wandering away. Down to 1 at the moment. Purchasing a few from a neighbor in the next couple of days, who also raises 'roaster' birds, and am considering doing the same. Looking to get info on brooding and saw your site. Much appreciated for your notes.
Thank you
J
bees are the Cleaner Picker Uppers
Leslie,
When I lived in Kansas for six years I did the chicken bee hive thing and I loved every minute of it. I especially liked working with the bees. I learned a lot of things about nature in general that I never knew before. Good luck with your bees and your chickens. I envy everything except the snow :)
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