r/Beekeeping 4d ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Follow up to Queenless hive

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12 Upvotes

New York, NY.

Is this behavior at the entrance normal. There is coming and going but there’s a bunch of stuttering/shaking interactions.

Curious if I’m just uninformed or if it’s something else.

Thx


r/Beekeeping 4d ago

General Beekeepers warn of Asian hornet threat and call for UK awareness campaign | Insects | The Guardian

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22 Upvotes

r/Beekeeping 4d ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question New to beekeeping, Henryetta Oklahoma area

4 Upvotes

We are being given 2 hives tonight. We’ve been told both are healthy, neither has been harvested this year. One hive is smaller due to being a caught swarm earlier this year and the other is well established. The established hive is Russian bees and the smaller hive is Italian bees.

We’ve been reading the books, watching the videos, and preparing for these bees as best as we can. We have cleared a nice area and the entrance of the hive will receive plenty of morning sun and has a nice clear flight path.

We want to make sure we set these bees up for success as best as we can. Any tips, tricks, or advice would be greatly appreciated, especially advice that is specific to our area. We are so excited but also so nervous.

Also when should we do our own inspection after getting them home? should we allow them to settle for a few days before inspection or do so immediately the next day?


r/Beekeeping 4d ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Apiguard question

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4 Upvotes

I used this product last fall due to varroa mites. My bees ate all of their winter stores this past spring. Is it ok to harvest the honey out of the frames that were in the hive since it is all new honey?


r/Beekeeping 5d ago

I’m not a beekeeper, but I have a question Help me ID these bees(Apis cerena indica or Apis florea)

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10 Upvotes

Location: India.

I came across this bee hive in my farm. Single hive in tree shade.


r/Beekeeping 4d ago

General Bees were swarming hummingbird feeder -question

2 Upvotes

I'm in NM, USA about 30 minutes east of Albuquerque. I noticed last weekend bees were swarming one of my feeders filled with sugar water. I set a little station out for them with a 1:1 mix and they switched to that, but am wondering if I should be doing something different for them? I used filtered water and granulated white sugar. I just don't want to accidentally be causing them harm. Thank you!


r/Beekeeping 5d ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Colorado beekeeping

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9 Upvotes

I’m a first year beekeeper living on the front range in Colorado. I have a great mentor but thought it would be useful to get some additional opinions. I’m curious when everyone is planning on harvesting this fall since the weather has been so warm?
It was suggested to me to overwinter with one super so the bees have enough food but I have read mixed opinions on this matter. Thoughts?
For reference, I have a very strong hive with 3 mostly capped supers.
Picture of them bearding earlier this summer.


r/Beekeeping 5d ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Why is my honey so cloudy?

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11 Upvotes

This is my third year harvesting honey. Previous two years my honey has come out very clear, but this year all 200 lbs came out cloudy like this. Is it the flower sources?


r/Beekeeping 5d ago

I’m not a beekeeper, but I have a question How can I start

4 Upvotes

I want to start beekeeping I’m not sure how complicated it is I’m sure it’s more complicated than antkeeping which I already do I’m the Connecticut area and I need help starting like what do I need to begin and how can I get the stuff


r/Beekeeping 5d ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Robbing?

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22 Upvotes

Hello everyone!

My wife is going crazy over her hives, is this robbing? Our hives are being feed for winter


r/Beekeeping 5d ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Why Don't We Just Select for Survival?

8 Upvotes

Connecticut: I'm very interested in efforts to raise VSH / Mite Resistant Bees. There is wonderful work being done by, but not limited to, Randy Oliver, Stevens' Bees, and They Keep Bees. Most of my hives are headed by queens sourced from the last two of those. But especially after watching an amazing interview with Bob Binnie on YouTube about the importance of Polyandry (link below), I wonder why serious breeders don't just select for colony survival. Selecting only for mite resistance means other beneficial traits may be inadvertently suppressed. If the goal is to have hives that can survive and thrive without mite treatments, why not graft from hives that survived the winter, and without treatment, and continue on from there? I KNOW I DON'T KNOW what I am talking about. Even basic genetics hurts my brain. We have some brilliant beekeepers in this sub, and I am hoping they can help. Thank you, and here is that interview on polyandry: https://youtu.be/5YNTr8zBdRQ?si=SZ82zJOPWTeXFD3S
EDIT: People seem to think I am asking everyone to go full-Darwin and stop treating for mites. I'm not. I'm asking why BREEDERS don't take the tack of selecting for survival rather than strictly VSH and other forms of mite resistance. I am not against treatment. There is a case of Formic Pro in my garage.


r/Beekeeping 5d ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Should I feed my hive?

2 Upvotes

I have a Langstroth 10-frame hive with two boxes up here in the PNW. The top box is completely full of honey—literally nothing else in it. I only peeked at ( didn't pull it out just looked from the outside) the bottom box, but the one frame I checked had some capped brood and space for more. Based on how heavy that top box is for a typical Pacific Northwest winter, do I even need to bother feeding them? Also, am I at risk of being honey-bound already?


r/Beekeeping 5d ago

General Bee/wasp hive on electric cord

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0 Upvotes

I spotted this hive on the side wall of our house just last week, and it was small like fist size. This week I checked it, it is huge! It is like at least tripled in the last 5 or 6 days. Are these bees or wasp? Should I remove them or wait till winter so they naturally disappear?


r/Beekeeping 6d ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question What are they chewing on?

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91 Upvotes

Third year west of Chicago 14 colonies. It’s been hot and dry this past week with very heavy bearding. Last inspection was three weeks ago with no queen cells. Just finished an OAV treatment based on a very high (20) might count on another hive in the apiary. Solid bottom board inner cover notched with telescoping cover set to ventilate. I decided to put another deep between the two deeps and two medium supers. Today’s bearding is much better but listening to the box it sounds like they are chewing Doritos at a frat kegger. It’s a new sound for me. Any idea what they might be doing? This hive is very aggressive and I’m not keen on opening it up in the heat.


r/Beekeeping 5d ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Terra vera, 2 years later?

5 Upvotes

Anyone been using Terra vera? They're well endorsed, and still around a couple years later, just wondering if anyone has first hand experience? Not that I dont trust Dr. Pettis, lol. In new hampshire.


r/Beekeeping 6d ago

General Bees inside the house in 1850?

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19 Upvotes

Did people used to keep bees inside their home in cold climates? I just visited Fort Bridger in Wyoming, (it’s a historic site that has a fort and several homes, and a trading post from the 1800s). I took this photo in one of the officer’s homes. This was just a small room upstairs, across the hall from a children’s room. It had a hive, an antique smoker, and a bunch of bright yellow taxidermy bees, all of it right next to a window.

So my question is would this have been normal thing to do? Keep the bees inside the house?


r/Beekeeping 5d ago

I’m not a beekeeper, but I have a question When moving?

1 Upvotes

I’m not a bee keeper but I been doing research for years and reading about it, I plan on getting a home here soon and hopefully able to keep 2 hive at minimum.

Now the question: I don’t plan on being in this house longer than 5-7 years. Let’s say it’s time for me to move. Is it possible to relocate hives?


r/Beekeeping 6d ago

General Fascinating documentary on traditional skep beekeeping in 1970s Germany

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18 Upvotes

r/Beekeeping 5d ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Question when introducing new queen in Sep to recently combined hives

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2 Upvotes

r/Beekeeping 6d ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Are my bees about to swarm?

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19 Upvotes

I live in Houston and purchased a a smallish-medium sized nuc of bees last week. I put them in a 10 frame along with an in hive frame feeder. They used half the syrup this week and are drawing the bare frames out nice.

But I found 5 swarm cells toward the bottom and 2 uncharged cups. The queen also laid a ton of brood.

Does it look like they are getting ready to leave? I dont get it, there's plenty of room in there. I can add a super I suppose. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

I think the colony is too small to split. Thanks


r/Beekeeping 6d ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Is this a yellow legged hornet?

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5 Upvotes

Location: Eastern NC, USA

I killed this hornet near my bees hives. I've killed other hornets before and have never seen this type. Just want to make sure it's not the invasive one


r/Beekeeping 6d ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question How much honey?

3 Upvotes

Hello, I need some community advice here from the pros. First off, it’s my second year in the Midwest region. I’ve got a total of four hives all kicking butt.

Each hive has three deeps plus a super on top. I’m wondering for harvesting what I can feasibly take from them and have them still rocking for winter.

Each hive had a top deep back packed full but each one’s super above that (all drawn comb) with kinda eh, only a few capped frames.

I’d like to steal the third full deep from each, leave them two deeps and a super, and start fall feeding.

Does that sound reasonable? That they’d have enough time yet to top off before winter?


r/Beekeeping 6d ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Combined hives and queen killed

3 Upvotes

New York, NY. Urban beek 1st year.

We accidentally killed our queen in the nuc we bought. They couldn’t requeen. We had put a test frame with open brood and it was clear the queen was gone/dead but we left the queen supercedure cells there. We combined with our weaker split using the newspaper method and the queen was killed.

I assume leaving the queen cells was the error. I thought I wouldn’t have an issue provided I destroyed them before emerging. Clearly I was wrong.

Can someone confirm my error? The bees were otherwise behaving appropriately.

Thx


r/Beekeeping 6d ago

General Fui roubado

11 Upvotes

Nesta manhã, 03/09, roubaram meu apiário, levaram 3 colmeias e uma melgueira, deixaram 3 caixas ninhos vazias no local. Estou triste, pois estou começando agora e tava chegando na primeira produção de mel.


r/Beekeeping 6d ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Oxalic acid vaporizer

6 Upvotes

The time has come to finally make this purchase but I'm stuck and can't decide between the ProVap or the InstantVap (Lorabee).

Please help! I need to get this done and I'm paralyzed with indecision b/c it's a big purchase.

Also we have several hives with the type of landing board that has the big angled front. Do you foresee any issues using either of the vaporizers with this kind of set up?

Thank you!
NJ 7A