Oh, I thought they must have been visitors as I had not opened the entrance. A leak?
Maybe good excuse to get rid of that stupid wire frame I made for the entrance. I have
found a nice piece of Sheoak to turn into an entrance piece with large and small openings.
Leak? yes, it must be a leak. You must have had them more secure while driving home with them in the back seat:) Thatâd be the last thing you want while driving home. A beehive in the back seat with a leak. Anyway good luck with it.
We had a terrific storm here yesterday afternoon & itâs rumbling again now & itâs not even 2 oâclock.
Possible, but they are probably your own bees. A hive guards its entrance, but any arriving bee carrying food is allowed to enter without too much fuss. âForeign beesâ carrying honey (and perhaps pollen) are often allowed into the hive. So it is hard to say where they came from, but if you have pollen sources nearby, you are in a winning situation - your queen wonât be limited in her laying. Great news for your new colony!
Dawn
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@Valli with regard to pictures of transfer. They just got forgot. I had the camera but I think the excitement of it all addled the brain and dressed up in the whole kit and caboodle I donât think I could have taken a photo even if I had remembered LOL.
My bees are very docile despite my interruptions to their life. I used the hat, veil and gloves when I made my inspection this morning but only wore gloves when I went back during a rain break to take out the 9th frame and although there was a bit of pushing and evening up frames not one bothered to pay me any attention.
I can leave them alone for a week, or more if there is good activity.
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Pictures say a 1,000 words also some may pick up on small details that could be useful.
If the Jarrah and Marri are coming in good.
Keep an eye on the combs, if you are building from scratch they can pull a comb down in about 7-10 days depending on the flow of nectar and the queen laying.
Many new beeks donât always know their local forage and feed it sooner than latter is better than leting them get on with it and failing due to weather or lack of forage.
If your girls are coming in with nectar and pollen and are building comb all is well.
I suppose Iâm cautious now seeing as though our summer and forage was so bad - I had the forage but the weather killed off forage trips it was not nice. Fortunately I recognised a problem before it became a disaster and managed to turn my girls around.
It is better to be a step ahead than behind.
Even faster. Bees draw their own comb faster than drawing foundation and can do a whole frame in 36hours
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Bees can build a whole box of comb in 7-10 days if there is a good flow of nectarâŚand if there are enough bees. Here in the UK I we donât see those kind of nectar flows very often. Even so, one of my colonies drew 3 full brood frames 12x14 about the same size as a langstroth deep in a week and there wasnât much of a flow. That included the queen laying it up too.
Wow. I keep a close eye on things. When the Marri flowers, standing under a tree you can actually smell the nectar and there is perhaps over 200 acres of state forest predominantly Marri within a 2 K radius of the hive. The funny thing is, originally it was a Jarrah forest with some Marri, but man in his quest for fine furniture timber and railway sleepers decimated the Jarrah and allowed the Marri to take over. I digress, I am sorry.
We seem to be having a weather reversal at the moment. Average rainfall for the whole period Dec-Mar here is about 20mm (less than an inch) and that is from 5 minute summer thunderstorms. Already for the month of Jan we have had over 150mm of heavy winter like rain. Today again is wet, miserable, windy and cold so there is little activity at the hive. The few brave souls seem to be returning with mostly pollen.
Thanks for all the replys.
Hi Busso, enjoy the new experience, good to see that you put the seat belt around the girls. I caught a swarm 2 weeks ago in Bridgetown just before the rain ( unusual for this time of year) & the only box I had was an 8 frame WSP, dropped the girls in & checked the next morn found the queen & had to leave them to their own survival skills, i couldnât get down to check on them until Sat (raining again) I found 2 frames with capped brood honey & pollen all in a good pattern spread, 2 frames 50% capped etc & they were working on another 2 frames.
Soo I did all the wrong things, wrong box, no feeding program, didnât check on them regularly but they not only survived but are doing great.
Agree about the blossom as 4 wks ago I was thinking of relocating but now it looks as if itâs snowed over the Marri.
Good luck with them mate. Ciao
Like most new projects fear of the unknown is the most daunting. I read and reread numerous posts, article on bees, talked to beekeepers but have learnt most in the last two days even with the weather limitations. The temptation to fiddle is being tempered by the bees need to get on with their jobs. I just love watching them come and go and wish I had a big observation window in the brood box. Maybe one day LOL.
Busso, weather should be getting back to normal in the next few days & as I think youâre retired grab yourself a milk crate a flask of coffee sit down & just watch the girls do their thing its mesmerising & therapeutic.
Ciao
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Wonderful
I think our UK bees, particularly in the north, struggle in comparison
Nah too young. Turned 74 last week. However I can confirm the deck chair is much more comfortable than the crate and it is good to just watch them.
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Bee careful staying in that deckie to long as at your age you mightnât be able to get out to collect all that honey 
Seriously Busso, whichever way you chose will be wrong by some peeps but perfect by others, Iâm sure yourself like so many others of us will have made & continue to make many mistakes but the bees will tolerate us & do what they do best. Ciao
Busso, pls continue with the photos and/or videos, itâs always interesing to follow the development of a completely new hive.
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I am curious too, especially as I would like to flip some mental insults towards the small-minded bee-seller! 
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Ah I have just moved along. Some people not open to change no matter how young they are.
I have told him I will keep him informed how the bees are going and in particular show him just how the Flow Hive is working. That will be down the track a bit. Heâs a nice enough guy but not happy with the Flow concept.
Yes no worries. Just need a bit of nice weather. Looks like we have a week coming in the low to mid 30âs C. I plan to open the hive and have a peek tomorrow. That will be the one week mark. I donât expect a lot because of the cold weather.
Something I have noticed and is fairly obvious I suppose, is that they seem to stay in when it very windy, more so than if its just cold. Bit like me⌠donât like that wind.
Busso, post some pics pls in about 12-14 days time as weather will be good & flow even better