Plant potted Bees

No I’m not addicted,… What about you @busso how’s it all going with your colony?
Anyway my excitement for the day;
All inspected, the pot bees had queen cells, so has swarmed and thanks to her piping I saw the queen! I removed a frame with a cup on it to add to the felled tree hive which I added and much to my surprise the hive was full of bees! I removed one Ill fitted comb frame, shook the bees off rested it to the side and put in a frame with wax foundation. I fitted the lid, picked up the frame I removed and looked at it and guess who was on it, yep the queen, how exciting. I placed her back in the hive and boxed up. I transferred the nuc into the FH brood box also.
Best inspection ever!!!
I even got some burr comb honey. :slight_smile:
Have I done the right thing adding the frame with the cups on it?

.

What a buzz.

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But wait there’s more… Seems there’s another colony in another branch!


You can see the other hive near the middle of the photo to the left.

Another cut out…
It’ll have to wait…
Hang on, I don’t have another hive…
I’m going out for a beer. :wink:

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skeggley doesn’t roll for me, would you mind if I call you Skegs or Skeggs . Orrrr Skeggley is fine. :expressionless:
That a Wandoo or a E. laelia(Darling Range White gum) the bees in amongst the Robin Gordons
Yeah I’m getting along. Going away in Winter for 3 months plus, I think was a disaster, for the hive. But still they live.
However the the girls have stood up and are now doing the hard yards. I have put a second brood box on, but as you know its not been good weather to open the hive. All observations from outside indicate the hive is thriving. I want a strong hive before I put on the FlowHive
We will see later in the week when we are expected to get some good weather.
My intentions as stated else where is to go over to the Lang X with 12 frames crosswise and that too will become clear next week when I have a look. I have placed a Lang 8 frame box with 12 X frames below my conventional 8 frame Lang.

Regards
busso

Interested to see how your 12 frame goes if you go that way. I was surprised at how heavy a couple of the frames were and can see why people go mediums.
I think it was a big old E. Rudis (flooded gum), it’s been dead for many years now. I didn’t really want it down as it has housed 28’s, galahs in the past and of course bees but my partner was paranoid it would fall on someone or roll down the hill and squash Perth. The grevilleas’ are further up our little block when I went thru a grevillea collecting phase, thems callistemons. Used to be bigger however a tree fell on them… :frowning:
:wink: Skeggs

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Evening Skeggs,
Just in case you were unaware E.rudis are the WA version of the River Red Gum (E.camaldulensis) and are very rich in nectar very good fence posts. But you knew that .
Yes the weight of a full head of honey/brood/bees took me by complete surprise. I suppose I am a little weaker than I was in my 60’s but hey those frames were heavy. When you are trying to look at the brood, the honey, the eggs, the grubs, any foreigners and find the queen it is a whole lot heavier :confused: and the thing that got me was the frames were so awkward and hard to handle. I have high hopes for the over 60 frames…will keep you posted.

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No Busso I wasn’t aware of that,. I’m going to have to consult my botanist friend for some more info on that though.
( https://www.amazon.com/bushland-plants-Kings-Western-Australia/dp/073165031X. )

Well iv dragged my feet and missed the 2nd cut out.
Good news is I can get to try a trap out now. :slight_smile:
Do I really want or need another colony? Yeah but nah but…
Is a 4 frame nuc box big enough for a trap out?
If so then here’s the plan;
Mesh cone tapering into the vent hole in the ventilation hole into the nuc box with 3 wax foundation frames and either a frame form one of the other colonys or a frame with some old brood comb in it, the latter being preferred as I’ve only just robbed a frame from the only colony that can spare a frame of brood.
Or do I just leave it be in the tree? I’m guessing it would be best if I am going to trap out sooner is better than later. The entrance is waist high where a small colony settled last year but died out. Easy peasy.
It’s nice to have somewhere to share my newbee thoughts.
Suggestions appreciated. :slight_smile:
Thanks.

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Suggestion:
Get out the chain saw and make a nice level surface on that area where the 3 limbs/ trunks/ what ever, come together. Then bore a big hole down to the tree hive, place a Lang or NUK hive with frames over the hole on that flat surface you just made, cover the entrance with flywire and start pumping smoke into the bottom.
All the bees will migrate up to the hive, whack a top and bottom on the hive and job done.:wink:

Well that’s a suggestion you probably don’t need. LOL
Maybe @JeffH may have a better suggestion.

busso

Yeah busso, that way I could just put a super on top and let the brood nest inside the tree do its thing I suppose. Problem is, is that the brood won’t have removable frames which is a no no I believe.
So due to lack of ideas and advice, bar yours of course, what I’m going to do is put a funnel onto the entrance and force the bees through the nuc box and see what happens. If the queen moves up and lays eggs in the nuc then great I get another colony I don’t need…
This time I will take pics.
Oh and the pot colony seems to have swarmed again, the entrance isn’t very busy and the super only has a few bees working in it…

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Sounds like a good plan.

busso