Hiya @Jingles, inspections went well, the queen in Dearth hive lives! I saw it which was easy due to the absence of bees.
Brood and a play cup on the middle frames and the feed all gone, some into uncapped cells. Capped brood but didn’t see uncapped brood or eggs, I’ll leave it another week before adding a frame of brood probably from PC.
None of the other 3 colonies had any honey in the supers although heaps of bees. The BW colony is festooning on a couple of frames in its hybrid super which is good (Finally). Pot colony is chock a block with bees in the super with all the foundationless frames drawn since spring but no honey.
The Gf colony which I moved and fed is good, I added a wsp box on it last week, above the qx has drawn none of the foundation.
All a bit disappointing overall however not unexpected.
So, as it seems the bees change roles, thanks for the info btw, I’m not sure who was sacrificed for the well being of the colony…
The buds are finally starting to bloom albeit slowly.
I did not add the wsp’s to PC and BW although they are full of bees. Llike you it would be nice to have same frames but if they are not intended to be harvested, or robbed, then it shouldn’t be a biggie.
Seeing the city harvests going well is an eye opener and am happy for them… I did get some honey from city beek and its flavour was a mish mash of different floral tastes, not great but it would have been several different frames from different colonies.
Keeping bees and the ups and downs was not what I was expecting when I contributed as a Flow founding member. If I had to control and manage varroa and shb I’m not sure I’d still be in…
Yes they do. Older bees can look after brood if required. Though they do not produce as good nutrition because their hypophayrngeal glands are largely atrophied, they are sufficiently able to keep the colony going till new nurse bees emerge. Younger bees are promoted to foragers. It is thought that varroa damage/ pesticides can cause this early promotion leading to a shortening of the bees’ lives.
One of the most common methods of splitting a colony as swarm prevention once you have seen swarm cells ids to remove all the brood and leave one frame with just the queen on. Some people take ALL the brood away just making sure the queen is in the new hive on the site of the old one. The youngest foragers will revert to be nurse bees pro tem
Yes you pretty well summed it up. Yes only for moving hives. That’s how I understand it to be anyway. I only have a couple of vented lids, I use them for shifting hives. Quite a few of my lids have gaps in the corners. The bees always propolise them in, especially as the days start to shorten.
I would never recommend having a top vent, however if a hive has a top vent by way of a gap in the corner of a lid, or box for example, I don’t block them, I leave that for the bees to do.
Hi JeffH, just had the same misfortune that you had early Feb, I closed entry about 10pm ( I use solid board slipped into entry), checked the four vents, all clean. Put the brood bx 8 frame deep with an 8 frame WSP super into back of ute. Next morn left home about 6 & arrived at new site by 8am, opened front & hardly any bee fly out, my initial thought was a few have blocked the entry but my worst fear came true when I opened the top to see that devastating scene of suffocated bees including my Queen.
Sorry for long post but question to you Jeff s do you use a solid or a slotted screen when you close the girls in,
I did have to smoke them a little as a lot were hanging around the outside, could I have suffocated them, or could it just be that it was a very full hive.
I’ve done this trip a few times before but with smaller numbers in the brood, hope you can shed some light on this for me, TIA TonyN
Horrible feeling losing colonies like that, thanks for sharing as a warning to others.
I think Jeff uses foam in the entrance but uses a ventilated migratory top.
What lid do you use @esttile?
Conventional lid Skeggley that we use in WA, bought from Guilfoyles with four vents. Just don’t know why this hive went this way when I take 4 or 5 hives from Mandurah to Bridgtown & back at least twice a year, well for the last two years that is.
As an aside Skeggley the Marri South of mandurah to Manjimup is going off but not a lot of nectar just plenty of pollen. Has it picked up around your area, I thought that you were based in the hills
Yep it’s finally picked up here in Goosie Hill alright, I was showered in nectar when I picked some marri blossom up in Kala to show the little one!
I have heard the nectar was poor this year but It must only be in certain areas as it definitely wasn’t poor on that tree and the supers here are filling up fast. I may even get some honey this year which should stop the other half from rolling her eyes when I talk bee!
@JeffH’s lids vents were propolized up which was why his suffocated however I’m interested to hear his point of view as to why yours suffocated.
Were they in a/c? If in an enclosed area high humidity may have affected their cooling capabilities.
I’m getting to a point where I’m looking at transporting hives so I’d like to cover all bases.
Great question Beegentle. I can only go by my experience. During the dearth the bees were much quieter than they are now during a flow. Currently the hives are buzzing which can be heard from distance. Whether a numbers thing or excitement, I don’t know. My understanding is that they can also make a lot of noise when they are queenless and if weather conditions change. I’ve found that when things change from what is normal to me I like to go into the hive to try and find a reason to learn from it and try to gain an understanding of the going ons within a colony.
I don’t have a mentor, apart from a couple of forums I frequent and books, I am gaining much knowledge from trial and error so don’t take my reasoning for gospel!
Perhaps some of the more experienced beeks can weigh in on the subject.
Not in a/c Skeggley just in the tub of the ute but I do have a canopy which I closed just before I left home, strange thing is I’ve done this a few times before all with positive results. Previous times was brood bxs only or brood & relatively new super however this time I had a brood & 2 supers I removed 2nd super that was 80% nectar & was 50% capped, put on bee escape forcing top bees down into brood & 1st super, gave a little smoke not in the hive as they were hanging around outside then shut the entrance, colony was large in fact quite large, don’t know if one can have too many bees in a hive that is maybe a screened lid or a screened bottom board for transporting 10 hrs shut in
Bees will produce carbon dioxide and as co2 is heavier than air they may have suffocated? Bees will regurgitate their stomachs if over come by co2. It’s been used to winter bees by putting them into a stupor apparently. Were the bees a sticky mess?j
Un capped honey can also produce co2 if it begins to ferment.
I think that is your answer. A screened top cover may help. Was it a hot day when you did the move? They may have overheated - it can happen very easily. To prevent overheating and suffocation, I like the idea of closing the entrance with something like #8 hardware cloth (~3mm gap wire mesh) - you can jam it into the entrance and it is so stiff that it stays put, but allows full ventilation. If you can’t get that, you could securely tape some insect screen over the entrance instead.
Hi Tony, I have no idea what could have happened there with yours. I use a solid entrance closer. It’s a terrible site to see. Very gut wrenching.
The only reason I closed mine up was so I didn’t leave any behind the next morning. In reality, if we weigh up the pros & cons, I think we’re better off to try & get up before daylight & close them up then. Failing that, just leave a few behind. If we have another hive close to the one we’re moving, the bees will return to that hive anyway. Just move that other hive to the position of the hive we move, that’s what I normally do & that’s what I should have done a couple of weeks ago.
In your case it might be as @skeggley said. The bees not able to cool the hive down sufficiently. I think the least amount of of time we keep our bees closed up, the better. An experience of finding a colony of dead bees is something we don’t forget. (ever)
When the bees are reducing the water content of the gathered nectar to make honey the whole box can sound like an air-con unit particularly in the evening when they have actually stopped flying and all the bees are fanning.
In my experience bees are noisy soon after they have lost their queen but settle as soon as they start making new queen cells
Thanks so much for the reply. Learning as I go for sure. I am in Perth, W.A. In spring I added another box to be sure they had enough room for summer. Then we had the unseasonal rains. They are humming loudly and at night bees are clumping around the outside of the box. This morning they seem to be bringing food into the hive in a steady stream. Plenty of flowering Mari nearby. I put sugar syrup out for them but they are not touching it. They are not clumping outside the hive this morning. It is the weird clumping around the outside of the hive at night and the loud humming that is making me think I need to add another box. But, I am hesitant to disturb them at the moment because they are so busy with the Marri blossom. Any feedback appreciated from more experienced people.
A you shouldn’t need the be feeding them now if you are around Perth,(?) friends down in the burbs are harvesting every couple of weeks!
How heavy is your hive, that’s a give away.
The bearding is totally normal this time of year, it’s one of their ways of keeping the hive at the correct temperature. On a hot day like today ensure they have plenty of water. I always find it amazing to see the bearding and think that they can all fit in the hive! Today’s 40°C should be a cracker!
The buzzing noise you hear in the evening is, as Dee says, the bees dewatering the honey.
Do you have a super on?
The only way to check if you need another box is to do an inspection and if 80-90% of the frames are built out and full then add that box. I think you’ll find some capped honey in there though.
Thanks so much. So, the bearding is normal at night? All good with water. They have a pond a few meters away. Yes, have supers on. I will do an inspection. Totally normal. I like those words. Phew.
Thanks JeffH, Dawn SD & Skeggley, for your replies & help. Jeff the main reason for moving the hive & not having another close is that we do some veggie gate sales & this hive has always been close to the gate but lately in your words they’ve got a " little cranky" of late so best moved before we get complaints or scare potential customers away, such is the life of a novice beek. Going to bee a honey of a day today 40+:honeybee:
I saw it which was easy due to the absence of bees. 
Long story and old joke, sorry.