Pit Beekeeping Thread
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Deaconblue
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That is a big swarm.
I'm guessing 3-4k bees. I hadn't planned to get another one today until I saw the size. Driving home, I swear a queen landed on my arm briefly before flying out the window. I'll check for a queen tomorrow, but the stragglers all entered the box like the queen was there, so I'm hoping maybe it was a swarm with two queens.
I've documented this week's adventures on our farm Facebook page if anyone wants to check it out, and/or give us a like.
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I've documented this week's adventures on our farm Facebook page if anyone wants to check it out, and/or give us a like.
Fulton Creek Farms
Fulton Creek Farms, Advance, North Carolina. Gefällt 495 Mal · 48 Personen sprechen darüber · 63 waren hier. An ever growing hobby farm on the banks of the Yadkin River in Davie County, NC.
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deacdiggler
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the queen never came out despite a lot of smoke, so our guy has to come back and take the house apart to get them out. very fascinating to watch!
I posted on the farm Facebook page the swarm catch today. I was checking on a swarm trap when a swarm decided to move in. It was absolutely amazing to see in person.
What ended up happening to the house? Cutouts are well beyond my scope.
I spent most of the day prepping supers for deployment. After my surgery, I'll have a 6 week weight restriction, and the Mrs is going to get a crash course in beekeeping. I want to make it as simple as possible, so I'm prepping everything I can think of.
deacdiggler
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Was raining on Tues when he tried to come so now he’s coming again this Thurs.
Moved my two queenless hives last night to where the rest of the hives are. I placed cedar limbs in front of the entrances to try and get them to reorient.
I got to the apiary this morning and there were hundreds of foragers swarming around the old hive location that obviously didnt get the memo. I grabbed a 5 frame nuc, inserted some drawn comb, and sat it in the location of the old hives. Suddenly, I have a resource hive.
The main two hives are still full of bees and honey bound, so I robbed 3 frames of honey from each hive, and inserted 3 frames of drawn comb and introduced some bought queens. The honey frames went to good use, and I added them to some of the smaller swarm hives.
I got to the apiary this morning and there were hundreds of foragers swarming around the old hive location that obviously didnt get the memo. I grabbed a 5 frame nuc, inserted some drawn comb, and sat it in the location of the old hives. Suddenly, I have a resource hive.
The main two hives are still full of bees and honey bound, so I robbed 3 frames of honey from each hive, and inserted 3 frames of drawn comb and introduced some bought queens. The honey frames went to good use, and I added them to some of the smaller swarm hives.
Also had two interesting stings today. I felt one crawling up my pant leg. I let her get to my kneecap before I said enough was enough and smashed her.
An hour or so later, I was in the general vicinity of the apiary, and got dive bombed by a few that still hadn't gotten over the earlier activities. She finally got me in the ear. So, I got got in the kneecap and ear lobe in the same day, both firsts.
An hour or so later, I was in the general vicinity of the apiary, and got dive bombed by a few that still hadn't gotten over the earlier activities. She finally got me in the ear. So, I got got in the kneecap and ear lobe in the same day, both firsts.