Beekeepers lack tools to track colonies and manage swarms
Several posts reveal anxieties about bee colony health and the resources needed for beekeeping. Concerns include attracting bees to unsuitable locations and the cost of supplies.
SOURCES (36)
“Hives in western NY something seems to be digging at the ground beneath one of my hives. 1) Should it concern me? 2) What is doing it? 3) What should I do about it? submitted by /u/hollambyb [link] [comments]”
“Hello! This is my first time posting. I’m a novice beekeeper in the PNW. My hive has made it through 2 winters and seemed to have been thriving this year. Today, I observed strange/frantic activity at the hive and when I got closer, found a large pile of something (pollen? comb?) outside of the hive on the ground along with a ton of dead bees! : ( While investigating, I saw a few yellow-jackets attacking bees on the ground. At first I thought they might be taking over, but I only saw a couple. I”
“brief background. Last year i caught a wild hive within minutes of bringing home used and empty hive from a friend.. I got a person to come and help me with semi regular visits and the hive grew and split. recently the helper has not been super available or.. on task,, unfortunately i lost a giant hive with what feels like 100lbs of material inside.. absolutely buggered and the sinking feeling of losing that much raw material is not something i care to repeat, i dont even know what to do with 10”
“I'm a reasonably novice beekeeper with (until this weekend) only the 1 hive. My neighbour had a wild/feral hive in a pot in their garden for a while and asked me to rehome it. I've relocated everything from the pot into a new 8 fram hive, however they have only totalled around 1.5 frames of brood, and half a frame of honey. As we are not yet in spring proper, I was thinking of supplimenting the new hives stores. My current hive is thriving with plenty of honey (it's got 3.5 full fram”
“I am currently moving to a place where I can not have bees any more, I'm bummed but it is what it is... So I gave away my 2 hives to another beekeeper, but when he came to get them it was hot and they were bearding on the front of the hive so he missed a bunch of them and now they are clumping at the site of the hive and if anyone gets within 50 feet they get agitated. I'm trying to clean the yard because I have to be moved out in a few days , but every time I go out there I get attacked”
“Hey all, I know nothing about bee keeping but I have a nest inside the siding of my home. I don't know if they are honey bees. Id rather not kill the hive if possible. Ive heard that contacting a local beekeeper might be able to help me get rid of the nest. But I have no idea on how to do that. This app/website called swarmed came up but is it actually a good way to go about it? Please any tips. I live in the north meto area of Minnesota. submitted by /u/Surrocko [link] [co”
“Each time we break into the hive, I am covered w angry bees and they could care less about my wife. We’ve been beekeeping for 6 years. Gone through a requeening, and even had them all leave and be replaced by a new hive a few months later. I get 150+ stingers on me every time, and she gets like 4. There was once a time that they wouldn’t leave me, so we went all the way to the front yard, over 150 feet away and my wife had to spray me with the hose while in my suit to get them to leave. Why do b”
“Hello, I have a question for the bee keepers. There is a bunch of bees around my place but they don’t seem to have a hive or a bundle anywhere on eye level (eg. trees, house, bush, etc). Instead they seem like they are travelling from or to ground. I’m afraid to check about their origin opening. I asked AI about it and they suggest I pour water around the area and wet the soil. Is that really the solution? Or is it better to buy things like pesticides to remove them? submitted by /u/”
“There has been a top bar hive at the edge of the woods on our property for a couple of years. Someone gave it to us as a gift, and we just put it out there in case any bees wanted to use it. Well 2 weeks ago, bees moved in! The swarm was all over the front of it, and bearding under the landing board. We let the bees do their thing, and didn't bother them. Now the beard is gone, bees are going in and out, but there are still a lot hanging out on the platform in front of the hive. Is this just”
“Fellow bee keeper here… anyone figured out how to to stop the yellow legged hornet once it has discovered your hive? We see 8+ a day, kill four when hovering next to hive… but we can’t stand out there all day on guard… I have traps but it’s too late now they know where our hive is… let me know if by one figured it out ! The map shows nests destroyed in 2024 (red) 2025 (orange) 2026 -still on going (yellow) They’re rate of multiplying is like 800% insane Hilton head island South Carolina su”
“Any opinions on what I’ve got going on in this hive? Only seeing in 1 of 7 hives, and only on this single frame. Don’t know if I should just toss the frame or wait to see if they clean it up. Located in Mississippi submitted by /u/zaphoid85 [link] [comments]”
“4th year, zone 4a. I keep 3 hives in a fairly secluded area surrounded by hundreds of acres of woods beyond the edges of our meadows. One of our hives was preparing to swarm so I put out a trap and, success! However, I am now wondering about how upset they may be if I move them back into our bee yard once they've established. I've heard the saying to move a hive either 3 feet or 3 miles, but this feels different because it isn't a hive, it's a newly split colony. I'm going to”
“A little hive is in my yard, inside a drawer. They are super docile, and don’t bother anyone. They’ve grown on me and the fam. How much work is it to start beekeeping? And is it expensive to get started? What about placement of the hive? Any and all information is much appreciated. submitted by /u/dachef51 [link] [comments]”
“Northwest Missouri. I’m planning ahead for spring swarm season and trying to be realistic before I buy anything. I’ve been looking at a Layens swarm trap kit with 6 transferable frames. I don’t have the permanent Layens hive yet. The bee side has some sponsor money behind it, but there may not be much more unless I can raise more. Right now I might have enough for some perennial forage and maybe the trap, but not the full hive setup all at once. That’s what I’m trying to sort out. I don’t want t”
“Should I overwinter my bees with supers on them and leave them with fall honey or should I let them over winner in double broods with no super? submitted by /u/bowdude86 [link] [comments]”
“Seeing a lot of activity out of this hive next to the others I have and was curious if they’re prepping for a swarm. Not a ton of flight activity, it’s about 85 degrees out and figured I’d ask the hive mind. Any thoughts would be appreciated thank you! submitted by /u/Slothsi- [link] [comments]”
“Eventually there were only a dozen or two bees swirling around the branch and 400 on the sock and the rest in the box. I moved the sock to the entrance and walked away as the storm was rolling in. The hive was placed up onto some bricks to keep from getting flooded if the rain hits hard. I'll gather up the box tonight or in the morning. submitted by /u/joebojax [link] [comments]”
“Almost thought we were cooked when the bees began to swarm into the air. Feel for the sweet lady who lost 3 big trees. submitted by /u/joebojax [link] [comments]”
“I’ve read a lot of different advice and wanted to ask some other beekeepers about when you make a deck on to harvest honey. Typically, my bottom deep I never mess with. I’m a ten frame, it’s usually brood and a few frame of honey. As I progress into the summer I’ll stack another deep or shallow on top of that and the bee usually start building honey frames there. Sometimes there are many, sometimes only a couple depending on factors. How do you decide it’s time to harvest honey and whether there”
“First time beekeeper in MA. I have 2 hives of which one is doing poorly/suspect underperforming queen) and another hive doing very well and on the verge of swarming which I am trying to address. But my question is not about that but instead the general behavior of the bees as of late. Prior to this weekend and my having to open the hives several times to ascertain queen status and location, I would never notice bees in my yard except for an occasional forager going after some clover. The bees we”
“Sooo, I procrastinated removing a large garbage bag of dirt from my porch this spring. No problem right? Its just dirt. Well, some bees decided it looks like a nice home. Now I cant bring my cat outside because she likes swatting at them. How do I get rid of them? I was going to use wasp spray, but I'm pretty sure they are bees and I read that would make them more aggressive. submitted by /u/SquirrelBright9979 [link] [comments]”
“Northern Canada 2B Super excited, my neighbor enlisted my help to identify and possibly try to relocate a bunch of bees he found. The first nest were wasps. But the second appear to be honeybees. Since they’re currently living in an area of the shed that is inaccessible, I’m attempting to lure the bees out into this bix on their own. Ive got drawn comb setup in the nuc, there’s a bit of bee bread but not much else as I was nervous to attract wasps. I’ve only ever captured bees once before, so I’”
“Northern MN usda zone 3. Did a check up today and my supers are basically bare. But my second deep looks like it has all the capped honey in it. I got sweated out and didn't deep dive into my 1st deep but could it be that there just laying down there while they build out the top deep with honey stores? Can I collect that? First 2 photos are the super, last for are the deep frames. All the other deeps are fully built out, the 2 that are half built were new this year. Thanks to all the active”
“I think my other hive is getting ready to swarm, checked them 5 days ago and no swarm cells and now there are. Just added the honey super on today. Do I squish the swarm cells and risk that they might swarm still and then I have no queen cells, or do I leave it and get a new hive on Monday (bee store is now closed all weekend) looking for advice as a new beekeeper. We lost most of our other hive to a swarm a week and a bit ago. Hoping this ones doesn’t swarm too. Any advice? Squish and hope they”
“Apologies I figure this has been asked several times before, but what should I do with honey frames after harvesting? The frames were spun and then put back onto the hives so they could lap up and clean the frames. We don't have wax moth where I'm located. Now that the frames are dry more or less should I be freezing them, wrapping them in plastic or something else? We will be getting one more nectar flow so I'll likely be putting them on but I'm just worried about mold growth un”
“Zone 6b, Indiana. 3rd year beekeeper. Got a call yesterday at work that my bees were up in a tree. Luckily I was able to leave and clock out for 2 hours to see if I could salvage them, thought it was going to storm and was scared they would move on. Climbed the tree and tried scooping then shaking (should have put sheet on the ground) I looked but still not positive I got the queen. This was my first time having to do this so made some mistakes. Investigated hive they left and smelled like yeast”
“I have a hive that recently swarmed. About two weeks ago. I had been about to get into it, but put it off after they swarmed as I heard that could make the new queen (assuming there is a new one) abandon the hive if done too quickly after a swarm. Today, it hit high temps in the yard, somewhere north of 90 F. We found a queen bee wandering around in the dirt around 10 feet from the hive. I've captured her and offered her sugar water (which she has so far ignored). She seems lively enough. Wh”
“Despite my best efforts with nuc sales and all that, I am once again at 20 colonies. I'm looking to downsize before getting to the fall as that many testy bees in an urban environment doesn't sound like a good mix. With current prices of woodenware and even the cost of frames being higher, what would you charge in your area for full single deep and double deep colonies? I'd also be willing to sell the colonies without the woodenware if someone wanted to replace lost colonies and pop”
“Today I was adding my third brood box. After taking the top super off, I smoked the second brood box and then proceeded to add the new third brood box. The problem was that the bees kept coming up and sitting along the edges. I tried using more smoke to push them back down, but they didn’t want to move. I ended up slowly sliding the new brood box into place, but I think I may have crushed a few bees. I was wondering what the best way to handle this situation is. Also, kinda related. The super wa”
“My buddy set me up with a trap loaded with local Ohio bees, we both got busy for a few days post set up and I came home from work to this. They sound a little agitated but I am a newbie on all accounts. Lots of research but nothing out to practice yet. submitted by /u/Outdoors-Galore [link] [comments]”
“So, robbed the bees today. I’m in western NC, so I was praying for a bit of sourwood, but wasn’t counting on much. We didn’t get a crop at all last year. My dad and I share 7 hives and we took off 78 quarts of poplar honey about 4 or 5 weeks ago and decided we needed to see if we had any sourwood honey. He actually called me this morning and told me he washed 15 quart jars and asked if I thought that was enough. Long story short, we replaced the frames after we slung the honey about a month ago,”
“I was taking apart my fence when I found these bees and I’m scared I might’ve doomed them (Rocky Mountains/ Great Plains) submitted by /u/Silent_Ad_6060 [link] [comments]”
“A little background… A few years ago, we had what our local bee farmer said were scouting bees paying very close attention to the peak of our gable roof. He brought over an extra hive, thinking that if these were scouting bees looking for a new home for their colony, the leftover pheromones would encourage them to settle there and not within a possible opening in our roof. In the end, we made a very smoky fire which eventually sent the bees elsewhere. Today, I heard them before I saw them… hundr”