Need some advice

Discussion and questions.
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Freejack
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2012 4:32 pm

Need some advice

Post by Freejack » Tue Jul 31, 2012 4:57 pm

My wife had a hive in the backyard. Recently she sold it and a couple of guys came by to pick it up. But it looks like the queen got left behind with a hundred or so workers (and a couple of drones, less the one that stung me behind the ear). I spotted a clump of bees and thought it was because of a queen.

I built a temporary box for her last year so I took it out and lightly brushed the clump into the box along with a couple of outliers. I put the box on the bench where the old hive used to be. This was last night (and when i got stung). They started flying in and out last night and in getting home today, I see quite a few flying in and out.

The problem of course is this box isn't maintainable. Second too is it's sort of late in the year to get started on a new hive. And I might just be mistaken and it's just the remnant bees of the old hive, no queen. There is clumping and they were quite protective of the bench when I brushed the bees into the box.

And it's a top bar type of box with an opening in the side (don't hate me :) ).

Suggestions? Leave them be? Replace the box with a real hive before they get set (assuming the can survive it and the winter)? I still have honey from the other hive so I can prime the pump so to speak. Have someone come out to save them from me? :)

Thanks for any advice.

Carl

Andy Schwarz
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2012 11:04 pm

Re: Need some advice

Post by Andy Schwarz » Tue Jul 31, 2012 6:36 pm

Couple questions... are you 100% sure there is a queen? What time of day did the two guys pick up the hive?

If they picked it up during the day then you have a bunch of fielders that came back once the main hive was removed.

Chances are these bees will not make it through the winter.

You could try calling the guys that bought your hive to see if they want to pick these bees up as well, so they can put them back in the main hive.
But just make sure they pick them up after dark.

Hope this helps.

Freejack
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2012 4:32 pm

Re: Need some advice

Post by Freejack » Tue Jul 31, 2012 7:04 pm

Nope, i'm not 100% sure. I was going by behavior. They'd been rained on twice and caught a misaligned sprinkler twice (30 minutes each, Sunday and Monday) and were (and are) still there. Which may not mean anything.

They were picked up at 8pm, Saturday night. They'd gnawed through the tray for a second entrance at the bottom. So when they picked up the hive, there were about 150 pissed off bees. From looking at the bench the hive sat on, they'd build barriers to reduce the size of the entrance plus it looked like they were burrowing into the space where the crossbar on the park bench crossed the seat.

I was thinking that the bees in the old hive would have already started on a new queen by now so reintroducing the old queen might not take. That's why i was asking if it was possible for the bees to survive if i helped and they had a proper hive (not that they can't hive anywhere they want).

Again, this assumes there is a queen.

Thanks.

Carl

Freejack
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2012 4:32 pm

Re: Need some advice

Post by Freejack » Tue Jul 31, 2012 7:22 pm

Just for some background, my wife and i are separating. We discussed me keeping the bees but the honey is very minty which i don't much like. If it were more paletable, i'd have gladly kept them. So i agreed that they should go to someone who would benefit. But i was starting to back away from my decision. Then they were sold and the guys took the hive. But Sunday the remaining bees had stayed and huddled together overnight. Then as the day warmed, the foragers went out into the yard but most of the others stayed on the bench and crawled around. I felt pretty sad for the remaining bees for most of Sunday, then they got rained on a little Sunday night.

Monday i got home after the big rainstorm and i thought they were dead as there were about a third left and almost all were unmoving. There was a little movement though. After a bit, the sun came out and the bees moved around a bit. About an hour later, i could see a mass of bees on the bench crawling throughout the mass. At that point, i figured maybe the queen had been left behind.

Since she had sold the gear, i put on my motorcycle suit and helmet and blocked the openings, took the box out and gently brushed the clump and the bees that were hanging about, trying to clear a spot on the bench and put the box on the bench, then put a couple of boards on top.

A couple of the bees followed me when i left for several houses down the street. I eventually got it down to one. I batted her aside and jumped into the house, closing the door in her face :)

I went into the garage to unsuit and one was hidden in my scarf and stung me behind my right ear. I got the stinger scraped out so there's very little swelling.

Basically, i realized i liked having the bees in the back yard. I figure that if there is a queen and it's not too late, i might see the hive rebuild. Push comes to shove, if they can't survive, i will probably start up a new hive next May (or so).

Carl

donstu
Posts: 63
Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2012 9:29 am

Re: Need some advice

Post by donstu » Tue Jul 31, 2012 8:15 pm

They are left behind foragers. There is no queen.
They are toast.
They could be shaken in front of another colony, but fighting may or may not result.
I would let them go.

Try again in 2013.

Best wishes ... dons

arsyaa
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Sep 11, 2012 4:59 am

Re: Need some advice

Post by arsyaa » Tue Sep 11, 2012 5:03 am

Hello! I also need an advice! Tell me please how do you treat bee stings. I found this http://keepingbee.org/bee-stings-pictur ... s-picture/
maybe you know smth special.

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