Late yesterday afternoon Jessi and I headed out with veils, newspaper and smoker to check on our multiple hives. The mission of the day was to get from 5 hives to 3 by combining each deep boxed hive with a shallow swarm hive.
To do so, we opened each hive box up and looked for evidence of a laying queen. When you combine two hives into one, the simple way to do so is to choose the box with the queen you like best and set it over the top of the other one with just a few sheets of newspaper separating the two. The bees eat through the newspaper over the course of a couple of days and at the end of it, usually keep the queen in the top box and the queen in the bottom is, well, executed. Or at least that’s the theory - we’ll know late next week if it actually worked.
Anyway, we got into our hives, starting with the Old Sol hive. Turns out we missed something when we created that hive and put her in for release, to say the least. There’s an active laying queen with eggs and some early larva. But she’s not the queen we paid good money for. She’s an Italian queen, likely raised by our original hive and somehow accidentally moved over to the new hive when we were creating it. Oh well, live and learn. The hive was gentle and productive and all looked good. In the photo below the queen is the bigger, mostly gold bee with the dark black head in the center.
Next we checked the first swarm hive. It was the same story there. A laying queen, eggs, early larva and a gentle relaxed hive. We decided to put what should have been the Old Sol hive on top and combined the two with newspaper in between. Both queens are Italians raised by our original hive, so whichever wins the battle for the throne we should be in good shape.
On to the original hive! Turns out things are not so good there. Even with all of their queen raising and other drama, there was no laying queen to be found. But there was a fair amount of nectar, pollen and honey. Then we checked the cedar swarm box and found another happy laying Italian queen. We put that box on top of the original hive with newspaper in between. That got us down to three hives from five.
The tops and bottom spread around are those resulting from dismantling the two swarm hives. We left them so that the remaining bees could make their way home. I’ll go out and collect them tonight at dusk.
As long as we were out there we decided to check the apple tree swarm box just to be sure we had a laying queen. If there was no queen we could combine them with one of the other boxes then. If not, we’d do so next week at the hive check.
Turns out that the apple tree swarm was not our bees! I have to admit to not checking that closely when I caught them because I was in a hurry and a bit stressed out. They’re darker than our bees with more defined striping. And the queen we found was gray instead of gold. These are Carniolan bees, another common variety, also known for their productivity and gentleness.
Obviously there’s another bee keeper around the area and I should maybe ask around to find out where. They were healthy and happy and going strong, so we left them. We’re double-checking with Jim, but anticipate combining them with our Italian hive next week. As you can see (look closely) a few of our Italians have already integrated with them. Doing so means that whichever queen survives that combination (Italian or Carniolan) will carry on her species and the other will die out.
Since it’s likely both queens are wild (raised by the hive, not purchased) we could end up with mutt bees no matter what we do. Especially since whichever neighbor has Carniolan is likely where our Italian queens went to get mated…
The drama just never ends. And really, it’s so fascinating that I don’t really mind…
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It’s like your own little bee soap opera, and I’m glued to my computer.
So, is there a problem with having “mutt bees?” Are they less healthy, or lower producers or something? What are the differences between Italian and Carnolian bees?
I feel like if I ever decide to start a hive, I have a good start at hive management education. Thanks for all the info and great pics!
It really is fascinating! Thanks for sharing the experience with us.
Amber :: Ha!
Kristi :: Well, there are a couple of schools of thought on mutt bees. The first says that you always want to have a queen that is of a pure line so that your bees are predictable in temperament and behavior. Also, that’s important if you have Africanized bees because you never know who your hive raised queen will go mate with and you might get bees that are aggressive. The second says that a queen your hive raises, that goes and mates with other local bees, will be better adapted to your local conditions. I’m pretty much neutral on the idea, so we’ll see how it goes. If we get an aggressive hive (caused by the queen) I think we’ll requeen with purchased bug.
Tea :: Glad anyone is still reading my neglected blog. Can’t wait for you to get your own bees!
How exciting! A lot of people around here like Carnolians because they survive the winter better than Italians. We wanted to requeen our hive with a locally raised disease free mutt queen, but we missed out on that opportunity. Next year we’re hoping to perhaps find and buy a hive of native bees or split one of our hives again if they are strong through winter and queen with a Queen Project Bee.
Keeping bees is always exciting!
Oh I can’t wait until next year! I am going to get my hive started. This year my sister started her hive. I have so much to learn about bees.
I do have a question though, why did you combine them and not just let them stay as 5 hives?
Thanks for the info that you post on your blog!!!!
Judy
No bees or hives in the forseeable future for us but I just love reading about your bee adventures, happy or otherwise, especially after reading Rowan Jacobsen’s Fruitless Fall and realizing how critical live pollinators are to real food.
Susy :: It’s pretty split between Italians and Carniolans around here. The shop we get our gear from, and took the class from, specializes in Italians (and Old Sol) so that’s why we went that way. I’m tempted to keep the Carniolan queen for the second hive next week, but it’s a discussion that Jessi and I need to have first. And likely ask Jim too…
Judy :: Bees are a never ending learning opportunity… We’re combining down to 2 hives to be sure that they’re strong enough to make it through the winter. The main nectar flow will be over in just a few weeks and they’ll likely need every worker bee they can get to build up enough stores for winter.
Audrey :: Glad to keep you entertained!
What a learning experience and a story every day it seems…seriously, it is great to follow along with you. When I read your response to Judy, that got me wondering, how *do* bees survive the winter? Do they stay outside in the hive? Is the hive like some winter plants and needs to be covered with some sort of insulation?
I love reading your bee escapades. I think it is great to learn some things that will not readily be found in books on bee keeping. As the drama unfolds…