# Who Has Bees?



## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

BumpRacerX said:


> My bees came yesterday. I installed them today. What an adventure! Now we wait to see if they make it and if I did everything okay lol.


You should talk to Scott McClain and Glen, (Canfield.?) They've been doing it here in Grayling for years.


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

I always wanted to get a couple hives going, but never had the time.


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## Macs13 (Apr 24, 2019)

Awesome thread. I was just grilling my fishing buddy yesterday about his bees. I'm building a chicken tractor this week so I can get some layers but bees are the next outside project. I'll be following along. 

Sent from my SM-G988U using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


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## BumpRacerX (Dec 31, 2009)

Today, 61 degrees and sunny here at the house. Decided to crack the hives open and pull the queen cages. Used a suit and gloves, didn't bother with smoke as I didn't want to set them back too badly. Both queens have been released. Didn't look in there too long to see if there was much of anything else going on. The bees seemed to be primarily working where they should be, so I figure I'll let them do their thing. 

Only thing I wish I would have done was have some feed ready for them. This was kind of a spur of the moment thing. It's going to be a while before I crack things open again looking at the weather.


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## BumpRacerX (Dec 31, 2009)

brushbuster said:


> You should talk to Scott McClain and Glen, (Canfield.?) They've been doing it here in Grayling for years.


I'll have to give them a call. There's not as many beekeepers here in Grayling as what I'd have hoped for. I'm kinda learning on the fly via the internet. Plus a few friends that live a few hours away that have them.

You definitely should get a hive or two. Maybe try to trap a swarm to get started? I'm going to hang swarm traps here shortly and see if I can connect.


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## vsmorgantown (Jan 16, 2012)

BumpRacerX said:


> Today, 61 degrees and sunny here at the house. Decided to crack the hives open and pull the queen cages. Used a suit and gloves, didn't bother with smoke as I didn't want to set them back too badly. Both queens have been released. Didn't look in there too long to see if there was much of anything else going on. The bees seemed to be primarily working where they should be, so I figure I'll let them do their thing.
> 
> Only thing I wish I would have done was have some feed ready for them. This was kind of a spur of the moment thing. It's going to be a while before I crack things open again looking at the weather.


Get some feed to them ASAP 1:1 sugar:water Also, did you get two packages and have two hives going?


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

BumpRacerX said:


> I'll have to give them a call. There's not as many beekeepers here in Grayling as what I'd have hoped for. I'm kinda learning on the fly via the internet. Plus a few friends that live a few hours away that have them.
> 
> You definitely should get a hive or two. Maybe try to trap a swarm to get started? I'm going to hang swarm traps here shortly and see if I can connect.


Glen is probably your best bet. I've known Scott a long time and he's been doing it ever since I've known him. But he contacts Glen whenever he has a problem.
Glen lives off 93 and 612.


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## ReallyBigFish (May 8, 2014)

We’ve got sugar cakes drying out as we speak to put in our hives later today.


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## vsmorgantown (Jan 16, 2012)

ReallyBigFish said:


> We’ve got sugar cakes drying out as we speak to put in our hives later today.


Good point, if it's going to be below 32 then you won't want to use liquid sugar water feed.


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## BumpRacerX (Dec 31, 2009)

vsmorgantown said:


> Get some feed to them ASAP 1:1 sugar:water Also, did you get two packages and have two hives going?


Just went out and pulled the old baggies out and put two fresh ziplocks with 3/4 gallon 1:1 sugar syrup in. That will give them something to feed on today/tomorrow at least until it cools down. Went smokeless again. The one hive was a piece of cake. The other one had a metric crapton of bees on the old baggie and the bees were not impressed.


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## BumpRacerX (Dec 31, 2009)

Willow pollen? I live on the mainstream of the AuSable. There's scattered Willow within easy bee range. I'm just glad to see the girls have found some pollen to work with. Between that and the sugar syrup it's going to give them a fighting chance.


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## JackAm (Aug 25, 2007)

vsmorgantown said:


> Good point, if it's going to be below 32 then you won't want to use liquid sugar water feed.


Gotta remember that bees cannot handle ingesting liquids less than about 50 degrees. Even though it's a lot more work, I've switched to jar feeders so I can pull them in the mornings and add new jars with VERY WARM sugar water. On the cold days, the extra heat gives the bees a few more hours to eat.


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## BumpRacerX (Dec 31, 2009)

As of yesterday, my bees have been installed four weeks. Tough buggers, they have managed to survive to this point. It's been a cold miserable spring. With this warm spell, the pollen has really started flowing though. Plus, I think they managed to catch the nectar flow from the Red Maples. Right now locally, the willows are just starting to open up. I've seen Alder, Red Maple, and Willow pollen flowing into the hives the last couple days. Plus one other color pollen that I haven't been able to identify. 

Going to do my first full blown smoke and all inspection tomorrow. Hopefully the boxes are drawn out enough to add more on, so I'm going to be prepared for that. One thing I was told with Package bees was to expect a supersedure at some point. Pretty much come to the conclusion that I'm going to let nature handle that however they want. The bees can pick their own Queen as long as she isn't a ****. 

The pollen in the photo a few posts above was Alder.
This pollen is Willow, pretty sure. Lemon Yellow. It was significantly brighter than the above.









I've had an Orange pollen come in that I cannot identify the source. Paddled four miles down river a couple days ago, nothing out of the ordinary. Rode a three mile loop on the bike yesterday. Nothing. Somewhere, there's an Orange pollen producer and I want to know what it is lol.


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## BumpRacerX (Dec 31, 2009)

Only guess I have on the Orange is Aspen. But I'm loaded with Aspen trees here, and the bees bring in very little. Seems like if that was it, they would just gorge on it as it's right on my property.


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## BumpRacerX (Dec 31, 2009)

Nailed for the first time today. Fortunately for me I work from home in the basement and it's cold down there. So I had a thick sweatshirt on. Was taking a picture of the bees bringing in pollen. All the sudden I had one land on my wrist. Went to brush it off with my cell phone and was like...huh this thing is stuck.

Pulled the stinger out of the shirt. Not sure if it was peaceful landing there and got scared when the phone touched it. Or if it was a full blown FU ******* land and sting mission.


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## JackAm (Aug 25, 2007)

BumpRacerX said:


> Nailed for the first time today.


So far, so good for me this year, but it's coming. It always does.
I don't "mind" getting stung. I certainly don't like it, but it doesn't stop me for even a second. It makes me more mad than anything. Every time I get stung, I holler out "Oh you have bees? I just LOVE honey!" in a very sarcastic tone. (That's the mantra you get from just about any acquaintance that finds out you have honeybees and all that "free" honey.)

The next time you have one land on you, take a finger and coerce the bee to walk onto your fingertip. Place it safely out of your way and keep on keeping on. I have 'em land on me ALL the time. They won't sting. Now, if they are in attack mode, that's different. When they land, they arch their backs and drill away. Take no prisoners at this point and flick them off. Don't worry about hurting the bee. She's gonna die anyway. The thing to worry about is the amount of pissed off pheromone that she leaves behind. That scent will call other bees into the fight.

You have a hive in your basement?


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## BumpRacerX (Dec 31, 2009)

JackAm said:


> So far, so good for me this year, but it's coming. It always does.
> I don't "mind" getting stung. I certainly don't like it, but it doesn't stop me for even a second. It makes me more mad than anything. Every time I get stung, I holler out "Oh you have bees? I just LOVE honey!" in a very sarcastic tone. (That's the mantra you get from just about any acquaintance that finds out you have honeybees and all that "free" honey.)
> 
> The next time you have one land on you, take a finger and coerce the bee to walk onto your fingertip. Place it safely out of your way and keep on keeping on. I have 'em land on me ALL the time. They won't sting. Now, if they are in attack mode, that's different. When they land, they arch their backs and drill away. Take no prisoners at this point and flick them off. Don't worry about hurting the bee. She's gonna die anyway. The thing to worry about is the amount of pissed off pheromone that she leaves behind. That scent will call other bees into the fight.
> ...


Poorly worded my fault. I work in my cool basement home office. The bees are on the hill a ways from the house.


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## ReallyBigFish (May 8, 2014)

getting hit on the wrist or hands is the worst. They cannot sting through nitrile gloves. Just ordered a box of XL. My hands blew up last summer after getting hit on both of them. They looked like baby fists they were so swollen. Couldn't see any knuckles.


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## JackAm (Aug 25, 2007)

BumpRacerX said:


> Poorly worded my fault. I work in my cool basement home office. The bees are on the hill a ways from the house.


Ah. I know of some beeks that have observation hives that are in their living quarters. I think that would be very very cool!


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## MichiFishy (Sep 17, 2019)

Went and picked them up last night. Excited to get them set up in their new home today.


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## Mn bum (May 1, 2018)

For sure pull the feeder. If you leave it in they will fill it with comb.


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## Lumberman (Sep 27, 2010)

You can pull the feeder now if you want. We have a good flow going now. If you’re going to try and harvest any honey you should pull it. 

Or you could leave it and hope they use it to draw more frames of comb. 

Keep in eye on it for swarm cells. Looks like it’s doing very well.


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## jacksonmideerhunter (Oct 9, 2011)

I started a hive from a 5 frame nuc of Cornelian strain bees on May 13th of this year.Have been feeding them steadily, and noticed this weekend that the number of bees coming in and out had increased drastically. Upon checking, they had filled out almost 8 frames, so I went ahead and added a second deep box. Seem like they are off to a good start, and we have a pretty steady flow going right now from wildflowers and clover, with the raspberries just getting ready to start. I’ve had bees down in southern Michigan in the past, and they did great. Curious to see how it goes up here in the UP. Definitely not planning to try harvesting anything from them this year, hoping they can atleast manage to get 2 deeps filled before winter.


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## MichiFishy (Sep 17, 2019)

Up to 20 deep frames fully drawn now, they appear to be thriving and lots of full baskets coming in. Still in awe of what they can do the in a day. Couldn’t help myself and took a corner of honey to taste. Some of the best sweets I’ve ever had in my life, first time getting it right out of the hive.

Should I just fill out the box with the last 10 frames, or keep using the divider board, adding a couple at a time?


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

I have a huge swarm on my house right now. I've never seen anything like it.
















Not sure how to capture a swarm, but I'd like to find someone who capture this swarm.


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## Big Frank 25 (Feb 21, 2002)

brushbuster said:


> I have a huge swarm on my house right now. I've never seen anything like it.
> View attachment 841485
> 
> View attachment 841486
> ...


Call James.
Honey Bee Swarm Removal in Metro-Detroit Region - Free | Michigan Sportsman Forum (michigan-sportsman.com)


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

I called an old friend, he hung a box baited with honey. We'll see if that works. A brood box will be next.


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## plugger (Aug 8, 2001)

brushbuster said:


> I called an old friend, he hung a box baited with honey. We'll see if that works. A brood box will be next.
> View attachment 841492


 Are they inside the house or on the outside?


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

plugger said:


> Are they inside the house or on the outside?


Both but I see them getting behind the board and batten. Most likely they have a huge ass nest in the trusses behind the siding.


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## JackAm (Aug 25, 2007)

I had a small swarm find one of my deadouts and took refuge about two weeks ago. I fed them and cleaned the place up for them and hoped they'd stay. Pretty late in the year to have much hope for a wintering colony, but I figured I'd try.
I gave them a frame covered with nurse bees and capped larvae today from their next door neighbor. Fingers crossed.


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## jacksonmideerhunter (Oct 9, 2011)

brushbuster said:


> Both but I see them getting behind the board and batten. Most likely they have a huge ass nest in the trusses behind the siding.


Were you able to get them out of there? If they’ve already found a spot in there they like, it seems pretty doubtful they would abandon it for a bee box. A colony can grow and build very quickly this time of year, so you will want to do something real soon, or you might end up with a whole wall or ceiling full of them!


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

jacksonmideerhunter said:


> Were you able to get them out of there? If they’ve already found a spot in there they like, it seems pretty doubtful they would abandon it for a bee box. A colony can grow and build very quickly this time of year, so you will want to do something real soon, or you might end up with a whole wall or ceiling full of them!


Nope they didn't want anything to do with it. He keeps talking about a brood box. Or, caulking all the entrances except one and making a funnel with some kind of check valve to funnell them out and into the hive box. I'm tempted to rip the siding off to get access to the hive.


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## jacksonmideerhunter (Oct 9, 2011)

brushbuster said:


> Nope they didn't want anything to do with it. He keeps talking about a brood box. Or, caulking all the entrances except one and making a funnel with some kind of check valve to funnell them out and into the hive box. I'm tempted to rip the siding off to get access to the hive.


I would if you can. It only takes 21 days for brood to hatch, then you will have about twice as many to deal with. Look back at michifishy’s posts of how fast his new bees are multiplying.


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

Anyone make a bee vac?


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

I think I'll make something like this. Then I'll make some kind of hood to attach to the soffit of the house where the bees are accessing. My idea is to suck them up as the come and go.


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## JackAm (Aug 25, 2007)

brushbuster said:


> I think I'll make something like this. Then I'll make some kind of hood to attach to the soffit of the house where the bees are accessing. My idea is to suck them up as the come and go.


I have a bee vac that I made. It works great - for what it's for. I'm not sure that you are in that position.

You will get bees - lots of them, but you will not get the queen. Or the nurse bees. Or the bees that hatch everyday for the next week. Or the eggs and larvae that will soon become bees.

If your goal is to get bees and add a purchased queen, then that should work, but even then it's pretty late in the season to get them up to speed for overwintering. Can be done, but it seems like a lot of work.

I think your goal is to rid the home of honeybees. If that's the case, I think you're looking at exposing the colony and then using the vacuum. This will greatly increase your odds that you get the queen. Unless they are 100% in the attic, you must cut through the interior or the exterior. Without doing that, even if you luck out and somehow get the queen to leave the colony and into your vac, you still have a perfect swarm attraction for the future with all that comb in there. 
I've had guys say "I'll seal it up and they can't get back in!" That works for a while, but all it takes is a pencil sized opening (anywhere close) and a scout bee and you will have bees again.
I know of one guy that used a "check valve" for the bees in a situation like yours . They left their hive, entered his box, and couldn't get back in because of the check tube. He claims that after awhile the attrition gets the queen to come out too, but it will be a long time. I wish I could have seen it.

I use my vac after opening a wall and exposing the colony. The bees will not leave the comb, but the vac leaves them no choice. After I get the bees, then I take out the comb, then I seal everything the best that I can from the outside and hope that Michigan's extreme heat and cold doesn't open up another gap.


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

JackAm said:


> I have a bee vac that I made. It works great - for what it's for. I'm not sure that you are in that position.
> 
> You will get bees - lots of them, but you will not get the queen. Or the nurse bees. Or the bees that hatch everyday for the next week. Or the eggs and larvae that will soon become bees.
> 
> ...


Yup that's my goal, get rid of the bees and their hive,put the house back together and seal it up. I don't want to kill the bees just contain them and relocate them. If I had the time and interest in bee keeping I'd get some bee boxes and use this swarm as a starter, but I have no interest in another hobby just yet.


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

Bee suit Question. I see Amazon has them for about 45 bucks I also see some for about 200 bucks. Will the cheap ones work?


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## ReallyBigFish (May 8, 2014)

Cheap ones work. I’ve got one myself. I just wear a jacket with hood and jeans. Never had a problem.


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## JackAm (Aug 25, 2007)

I went to the Honey Festival in Shiawasee County today. Saw a ventilated suit that I'd love to have. Bought a hat with a net that I will use occasionally. I like the jacket style for any deep digs into the hive.
As far as the cheap ones on Amazon goes, the one pictured below looks like maybe the one that you found. It will be HOT, but like RBF said, it'll be just fine. Just remember to tuck your shirt into your pants!


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## JackAm (Aug 25, 2007)

JackAm said:


> I had a small swarm find one of my deadouts and took refuge about two weeks ago. I fed them and cleaned the place up for them and hoped they'd stay. Pretty late in the year to have much hope for a wintering colony, but I figured I'd try.
> I gave them a frame covered with nurse bees and capped larvae today from their next door neighbor. Fingers crossed.


 I tipped the lid today and saw that the swarm has increased in numbers really well. I've been feeding them and I see that the one super that they have about 80% utilized has pretty good honey stores toward the ends of the frames. I am thinking about adding a honey super on and letting them fill that for their use in the winter. I could add a deep super, but I just don't want to give them more room than they can use.
Once again, beekeeping is not a textbook activity. I really don't know the right thing to do. I could give them yet another frame of bees and larvae from another neighboring hive and go with a full deep super.... ARGH! 
I just muddle my way along sometimes!


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

JackAm said:


> I went to the Honey Festival in Shiawasee County today. Saw a ventilated suit that I'd love to have. Bought a hat with a net that I will use occasionally. I like the jacket style for any deep digs into the hive.
> As far as the cheap ones on Amazon goes, the one pictured below looks like maybe the one that you found. It will be HOT, but like RBF said, it'll be just fine. Just remember to tuck your shirt into your pants!
> 
> View attachment 842969


This is the one I'm looking at. https://www.amazon.com/Professional...cphy=9017624&hvtargid=pla-1237883041853&psc=1


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## ReallyBigFish (May 8, 2014)

Should be fine with that suit. If it’s easier to work they cannot sting through nitrile gloves. So I have a box for when I’m doing hive work. Take a couple pair with me in case one breaks.


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## JackAm (Aug 25, 2007)

That's kind of like the suit I started with. I wanted total protection. HOT!!!! I don't even know where mine is now. It's here somewhere. 

The jacket is hot too, but not such a pain in the rear to get on and off as the full suit.
Get that suit. It will calm your nerves as you experience the intense apprehension of your first package install 
Later you can cool off with a jacket. A jacket and a pair of jeans will work just fine along with the nitrile gloves that RBF mentioned.

No matter if you use a jacket, a full suit, or just a hood, they must keep bees out by sealing off your face from the bees. One time I was doing my thing and I realized (too late) that I had not closed the velcro on the chin zippers. There were two bees in my hood. They were crawling on the mesh trying to figure out how to get out. It was a little discerning, but I kept of doing my thing. When one of them made the leap from the mesh to my nose and started crawling around, I decided that I had had enough! I didn't get stung but it sure freaked me out! Lesson learned - close the velcro!


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## JackAm (Aug 25, 2007)

Wish I could grow a beard like this...


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## jacksonmideerhunter (Oct 9, 2011)

brushbuster said:


> This is the one I'm looking at. https://www.amazon.com/Professional...cphy=9017624&hvtargid=pla-1237883041853&psc=1


Thats the exact one I’m using. Works just fine.


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## ReallyBigFish (May 8, 2014)

Finally got around to jarring the first honey harvest of the season. Got 21 pints and 4 quarts. Not too bad.


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## JackAm (Aug 25, 2007)

ReallyBigFish said:


> Finally got around to jarring the first honey harvest of the season. Got 21 pints and 4 quarts. Not too bad.


Atsa Lotsa Honey!  
Did you crush and strain or spin it?


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## ReallyBigFish (May 8, 2014)

Spun it. Had 11 super frames from two hives.


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## Forest Meister (Mar 7, 2010)




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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

Questions for you guys. So next week I think I'm going to tackle the cut out in my soffit. My plan is to rent a lift, rig up a vacuum bucket, get a bee suit and dive in. My plan is to remove the boards where the bees are entering, and suck up as many bees that I can. And then remove all the comb and put it all back together.

Question 1 
where should I put the bees once I get them sucked up into a bucket. I don't want to harm the bees if possible.

Question 2 what do I with the Queen if I find her?
How soon should I try to get them into a new hive box?
How do I process the honey?


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## Liver and Onions (Nov 24, 2000)

I bet a local beekeeper with experience would help and relocate the bees to his setup.


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## JackAm (Aug 25, 2007)

Brushbuster - where are you?
I have the lift, the suit, and the vac if we're close.

Once you have them, without a queen, they are basically doomed. They cannot produce a new queen unless they have a hive with some eggs and larvae. Catch (or provide) a queen, then they'll need a home to recover and start anew. New box right away.

Here's a thought (spurred on by Liver and Onions' post) - can you wait until Spring? If you wait until Spring, there's no doubt there is a bee keeper that will come do all the work for you. Right now, there aren't too many beeks that would be interested. 

*swarm in May is worth a load of hay; a swarm in June is worth a silver spoon; but a swarm in July is not worth a fly* 

But if you are determined to get them out this year and you forge ahead (they're just bugs, after all!) you asked about the honey - When I've done cleanouts like this, I just grab all the comb that I can and put it in 5 gallon buckets. What you would be doing is called "crush and strain." You put your hands in the buckets (once they are in your kitchen or garage and away from the bees) and then squeeze the comb until it's a mush. After all the chunks are part of the mush you strain the mush through a mesh paint strainer that you get at a hardware store. You will get 100% pure and delicious honey. The remnants in the mesh strainer can be put out for other bees to devour. After they are done, you will have some pretty good wax to melt into a block.


Keep in mind that sometimes, where the bees are going in isn't all that close to where their comb is. It usually is, but it can get frustrating at times as you have to keep the demolition going more than you planned.


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

The soffit is dripping honey pretty good now. And quite a few bees have now clustered in front of the entrance


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

Liver and Onions said:


> I bet a local beekeeper with experience would help and relocate the bees to his setup.


My wife has called quite a few, no one is interested.
My wife is really bothered by it all. She's afraid they will get in our house. I suggested doing the cut out in November when they are dormant.


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

JackAm said:


> Brushbuster - where are you?
> I have the lift, the suit, and the vac if we're close.
> 
> Once you have them, without a queen, they are basically doomed. They cannot produce a new queen unless they have a hive with some eggs and larvae. Catch (or provide) a queen, then they'll need a home to recover and start anew. New box right away.
> ...


I'm little north of Grayling close to Waters.


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

So why are they clustering up in front of their entrance? No room in the hive? Full of honey?


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## ReallyBigFish (May 8, 2014)

Prob too hot in the wall. That’s what they do on hot days on the hives too.


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## JackAm (Aug 25, 2007)

brushbuster said:


> I'm little north of Grayling close to Waters.


Yeah, probably not worth the gas. I'm West of Flint. 

They are clustering near the entrance (called bearding) cause it's so hot out. I think all my hives have beards right now, even the one that was a June swarm.

November - those bees won't be flying but it will still be 90-100 degrees at the center of the cluster. They will be very much alive, just not outside. Exposing them later in Dec. when the temps dip will kill em. I'm not an advocate of killing honeybees, but the situation is what it is. Your wife's comfort is more important.


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## Big Frank 25 (Feb 21, 2002)

Work hard for the honey!


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## jiggin is livin (Jan 7, 2011)

brushbuster said:


> So why are they clustering up in front of their entrance? No room in the hive? Full of honey?
> View attachment 844040



That is crazy! I have never seen a swarm like that.

This thread is insanely interesting to me. IDK if I would want to get into it, but I certainly could. I do have a few close relatives and friends who are allergic, but if I had them far away from the house and pond I wouldn't think it would be anymore of a threat than a random bee or hornet out and about. I do have 30 acres to figure it out and we love honey. Plus, I would think I wouldn't want to chickens and ducks to find them... 

I had a buddy that kept bees for a few years and loved it, then they all just up and left on him. I should see if he still has the boxes...


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## vsmorgantown (Jan 16, 2012)

brushbuster said:


> Questions for you guys. So next week I think I'm going to tackle the cut out in my soffit. My plan is to rent a lift, rig up a vacuum bucket, get a bee suit and dive in. My plan is to remove the boards where the bees are entering, and suck up as many bees that I can. And then remove all the comb and put it all back together.
> 
> Question 1
> where should I put the bees once I get them sucked up into a bucket. I don't want to harm the bees if possible.
> ...


Question 1 if it were me I would put them in a hive box/boxes as soon as possible.

Question 2 IMO it will be very difficult for you to spot the queen among the mass of bees you're about to be confronting although much bigger than the workers the queen will still be difficult to pick out from the tens of thousands of bees you're fixin to encounter. Try to get all the bees sucked up and into hive boxes asap. I am not sure how you would process honey not on frames? I've never done that before. But, if it were me, I would take all the honey comb and put it in a food grade bucket and then, when I had time, I would uncap the honey with a serrated knife and pack the comb and honey together into individual mason jars.


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

jiggin is livin said:


> That is crazy! I have never seen a swarm like that.
> 
> This thread is insanely interesting to me. IDK if I would want to get into it, but I certainly could. I do have a few close relatives and friends who are allergic, but if I had them far away from the house and pond I wouldn't think it would be anymore of a threat than a random bee or hornet out and about. I do have 30 acres to figure it out and we love honey. Plus, I would think I wouldn't want to chickens and ducks to find them...
> 
> I had a buddy that kept bees for a few years and loved it, then they all just up and left on him. I should see if he still has the boxes...


That swarm is just a small fraction. A couple weeks ago a giant cloud of bees were hovering in the yard and then swarmed the house, like they were being called. That was a pretty spectacular sight.


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## vsmorgantown (Jan 16, 2012)

Harvested honey on Sunday 24 one pound jars.


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

I found a bee keeper that is going to remove the bees thank God! I set up a scaffold for him so whenever he's ready.


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## vsmorgantown (Jan 16, 2012)

brushbuster said:


> I found a bee keeper that is going to remove the bees thank God! I set up a scaffold for him so whenever he's ready.


That's good news for you. But, I was really hoping you were going to do this so we could hear your story and description of the whole ordeal it would've made a fun read for sure. Take some cool pics when he comes over and share them with us. I would love to be the one up on that scaffolding doing this for you, I can just imagine what it looks like behind those boards, it would be an epic sight.


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## Lumberman (Sep 27, 2010)

Been an awesome year in my area. My hives are all packed. I pulled a few honey frames before starting my mite treatments just for the house. Wasn’t planning on harvesting honey as I plan to grow my apiary but will probably have no choice. 


















Tried to pull a few different flavors. All of them are unique.


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## jiggin is livin (Jan 7, 2011)

vsmorgantown said:


> Harvested honey on Sunday 24 one pound jars.
> View attachment 846263


Bro! You forgot a Christmas tree! 

That looks delicious. Damnit, now I want bees. Lol



brushbuster said:


> I found a bee keeper that is going to remove the bees thank God! I set up a scaffold for him so whenever he's ready.


That is awesome! 



vsmorgantown said:


> That's good news for you. But, I was really hoping you were going to do this so we could hear your story and description of the whole ordeal it would've made a fun read for sure. Take some cool pics when he comes over and share them with us. I would love to be the one up on that scaffolding doing this for you, I can just imagine what it looks like behind those boards, it would be an epic sight.


X2!!!


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## vsmorgantown (Jan 16, 2012)

jiggin is livin said:


> Bro! You forgot a Christmas tree!
> 
> That looks delicious. Damnit, now I want bees. Lol
> 
> ...


That Christmas tree stays there year round. I don't have the energy to move it, I've got way too many other things going on outside to worry about the inside. lol

And, you should get some bees I love working my bees.


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## Lumberman (Sep 27, 2010)

vsmorgantown said:


> That Christmas tree stays there year round. I don't have the energy to move it, I've got way too many other things going on outside to worry about the inside. lol
> 
> And, you should get some bees I love working my bees.


Haha. There’s a lot going on in that picture. Including a 5 gallon bucket of lucky buck.


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## vsmorgantown (Jan 16, 2012)

Lumberman said:


> Haha. There’s a lot going on in that picture. Including a 5 gallon bucket of lucky buck.


Guaranteed to grow bigger bucks or your money back!


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## jerrydorm81422 (5 mo ago)

C20chris said:


> you mentioned "mostly self-sufficient". With bee-keeping there are a lot of varying opinions on almost everything but IMO, in order to be mostly self-sufficient you will need multiple hives. If you have 3-5 hives it would take a rather bad stroke of luck to be in full reset mode. If you have 3 hives and 2 die in a harsh winter, you have 1 hive that you can split multiple times to build your apiary back up without the capital expenditure of additional nucs/packages. With 1 hive, if it dies your done. That and taking care of 3 or 4 hives (in the same area/yard) really isn't any more work than taking care of 1. just my $.02


thank you for this useful advice


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## BumpRacerX (Dec 31, 2009)

brushbuster said:


> I found a bee keeper that is going to remove the bees thank God! I set up a scaffold for him so whenever he's ready.


Let me know if this doesn't happen. Between work and the canoe marathon I have had zero free time to read on here. I have an entire hive we can assemble and setup at your house if you still need to cut them out. If we poured the feed on them heavy they might be able to build enough to make winter.

I haven't opened my bees up in a month. Lesson learned...buying package bees to be delivered at the earliest date is a recipe for distaster in Crawford Co. By the time anything bloomed this year, they were almost all dead. Now...the upside is, they are still alive. I think they just now managed to build out their first deep...but they are alive. Yesterday afternoon there was a HUGE amount of bees taking their orientation flights. Tomorrow I'm going to open things up and probably add more boxes on to both (assuming the original deep is actually built out now).


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## BumpRacerX (Dec 31, 2009)

Just finished a quick look at my hives. They both look about like this. 6 frames built, outer frames not touched. Burr comb all over the top. In hindsight I should have checkerboarded good drawn frame with not drawn frame. Oh well.

I put mediums on both boxes. There's no way these things fill out another deep between now and winter. I think my best bet is to try to overwinter single deep style.


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## JackAm (Aug 25, 2007)

BumpRacer,
I have NO idea if I did the right thing or not, but with a late swarm that I had move in, I added a frame of bees from a neighboring hive and then fed fed fed.
After they had the deep super about 80% drawn (with sugarwater honey capped in most edges,) I added a honey super with drawn frames. I didn't think they'd be able to fill a deep super by winter, but I think they can fill something the size of a honey super. I continue to feed, but the goldenrod blooms should be starting soon.
I hope this works, but you never know.

Lastly, I had a lethargic hive like yours once. It turns out that there was no queen. She must have bit the dust during install and there were no eggs/larvae to make a new one. At least one of the workers were laying eggs, but a queen she was not! That was the most lazy hive I've ever seen. Check for a queen to make sure you don't have a laying worker.


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## ReallyBigFish (May 8, 2014)

If you’re worried they won’t make winter due to starvation than yes, feed feed feed.


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## BumpRacerX (Dec 31, 2009)

JackAm said:


> BumpRacer,
> I have NO idea if I did the right thing or not, but with a late swarm that I had move in, I added a frame of bees from a neighboring hive and then fed fed fed.
> After they had the deep super about 80% drawn (with sugarwater honey capped in most edges,) I added a honey super with drawn frames. I didn't think they'd be able to fill a deep super by winter, but I think they can fill something the size of a honey super. I continue to feed, but the goldenrod blooms should be starting soon.
> I hope this works, but you never know.
> ...


As of my last check a month or so ago I had solid egg patern, one per cell. Didn't look that long or hard for the actual queen. I think she's there, but they just didn't seem to build enough comb to really let her hit explosive growth. At one point I was down to so few bees I was pretty sure this year was a total loss. Now, the numbers are starting to look decent but no where near what I had hoped. 

If nothing else I'll have some frames of drawn foundation to work with next year assuming I have to reboot. Starting from scratch with the cheap chinese stuff off amazon was probably not my smartest move. If these don't overwinter...I think I'm buying a nuc or two next year instead.


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## MichiFishy (Sep 17, 2019)

Well I hadn't planned on taking any frames from them this year, but you guys were right. They have produced plenty enough honey that I felt fine taking two from them. I am really impressed with this group of bees. Even though I've had limited exposure to beekeeping, these gals are doing GREAT. No signs of mites or moths, they just won't slow down and have drawn all 30 frames with all but the last two being totally full. And I still have about 6 acres of Goldenrod out my back door that is just coming into bloom. I will probably crack the box open one more time before winter, after they have shrunk down a bit, but otherwise going to let them do their thing. Can't wait to get this processed over the weekend.

Appreciate all the help from everyone in the thread. I wasn't able to get another nuc for my other hive this year, but am already looking forward to starting at least two more next spring.


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## vsmorgantown (Jan 16, 2012)

Goldenrod is a great food source for our bees but goldenrod honey is not very good. Once the goldenrod gets blooming heavy I won’t harvest any of that honey because I don’t like goldenrod honey it’s dark and somewhat bitter but again a great source of winter food storage for the bees. If you’re going to harvest honey do it before the goldenrod gets blooming heavy is my recommendation.


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## MichiFishy (Sep 17, 2019)

vsmorgantown said:


> Goldenrod is a great food source for our bees but goldenrod honey is not very good. Once the goldenrod gets blooming heavy I won’t harvest any of that honey because I don’t like goldenrod honey it’s dark and somewhat bitter but again a great source of winter food storage for the bees. If you’re going to harvest honey do it before the goldenrod gets blooming heavy is my recommendation.


That was my thinking in taking some before it really gets into full bloom. I probably could have taken more frames with how much Goldenrod they’ll be able to put up, but did feed syrup in july and didn’t want any of that mixed in the honey.


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## BumpRacerX (Dec 31, 2009)

Today's check. What's nice is they don't seem to build burr comb on top of the all plastic frames. Think I'm probably condensing down to 5 frame nucs for the winter. The question is when. These is some new comb being built. Also checker boarded some new frames into the drawn ones in hopes of getting some additional drawn comb ready for next year.


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## MichiFishy (Sep 17, 2019)

My first harvest, its good stuff. Crushed and strained it.


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## ReallyBigFish (May 8, 2014)

Ugh. We lost one of our hives. Lost the queen. Then a virgin queen was laying non-fertilized eggs. Tore it all down last weekend. The other hive is strong so hoping to split it next spring.


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## BumpRacerX (Dec 31, 2009)

I started to feed on Thursday. No supers or hope of getting honey this year. Apivar is on, feeders are draining about 12-14 ounces a day.


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## ReallyBigFish (May 8, 2014)

Did our last honey harvest on Wednesday. Jarred it up today. 30 pints and 1 half-pint. Good haul for one hive. We will now feed for a couple weeks to prep for winter again. Hive is strong. Hopefully they make it this winter and we can split in the spring.


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## BumpRacerX (Dec 31, 2009)

Switched to 2:1 about a week ago and am feeding like a madman. Hopefully we can keep some daytime temps above 50 for as long as possible to keep getting these girls as much as they can take.


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## BumpRacerX (Dec 31, 2009)

Everyone have their hives ready for the winter?


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## C20chris (Dec 4, 2007)

Still feeding mine. With these temps they are still taking food. I think I am going to winterize our hives on Sunday and that will be it till spring.


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## BumpRacerX (Dec 31, 2009)

I have people all over asking me to put hives at their place next year. Only spot I'm commiting to in my 2nd year is my mother's place in Ogemaw county. Should be absolutely prime if they don't get sprayed on an ag field.

Anyone find any good deals on bees for Spring? I'll need two to four packages or nucs at a minimum.


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