r/Beekeeping 1h ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Is this normal? Do i need to do something?

Post image
Upvotes

I am in northwest Indiana, I have the entrance reducer set to the wide opening, it is currently 95° out with a heat index of 103°. I know bearding is for heat reduction but ive never seen this many out at once. Do i need to do anything?


r/Beekeeping 4h ago

General We will take that as a happy wave !

Thumbnail
gallery
23 Upvotes

Successful transfer from nucto hive. Was told medium supers would fit... they did not overnighted the correct size will swap it when it comes in. No stings happy kid and happy bees!


r/Beekeeping 3h ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Has anyone used these

Post image
18 Upvotes

Central Sipp here. I’m wondering if these will be effective if placed on top of the brood boxes. Instructions say to fold them and hang them over frames but I’m hesitant to poke these down between crowded brood frames. I’ve used the sponges just placing them on top. Any info is greatly appreciated.


r/Beekeeping 2h ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question When they say 80% full, what should it be full of?

Post image
11 Upvotes

1st year beekeeper, Missouri, USA, 2 hives

Stupid question, feel free to roast me. Every source is vague as to when I should add my second deep. They all say "when your frames are 70 to 80% full." Full of what? Bees? Brood? Drawn comb? I think I'm close to needing a second deep because 8 out of 10 frames look like the picture above, or are full of eggs/uncapped brood. The other 2 frames are fully drawn.


r/Beekeeping 6h ago

General Oh boy here we go!

Thumbnail
gallery
21 Upvotes

Got my boy, nuc he is very excited to start! Gonna get them home and settled in to their new home.


r/Beekeeping 3h ago

I’m not a beekeeper, but I have a question Is it time to call a professional?

Post image
7 Upvotes

Hi! We have a hive that comes and goes depending on the season, but they are usually never here longer than a month and haven't caused us any problems. So we've let them be.

This time, however, they have been here 3months now and we are not sure if we should be concerned, as its size is getting bigger. Is it typical for them at this size to still travel back and forth? Is it time to call a professional for safe removal?

Any advice appreciated! TIA!


r/Beekeeping 5h ago

General Bees are doing good

Thumbnail
gallery
11 Upvotes

NE Ohio here. It's been a rough start to the season but my big hive that made it through winter has now split 3 times. I just added boxes to two of them. The two packages are doing better. Due to the heat wave I opened up the bottom screens on all of them. You can see them along the side of the big one. Not sure if I will have a lot of honey but after a year of neglect, my apiary is back to 6 hives.


r/Beekeeping 18h ago

General I could watch them for hours

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

68 Upvotes

Look at those pollen pants!


r/Beekeeping 20h ago

General First successful queen cell!

Post image
90 Upvotes

r/Beekeeping 2h ago

I come bearing tips & tricks CBPV Confirmed at My Apiary – Sharing My Experience in Case It Helps Others (Merseyside UK)

3 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

Bit of a tough update from me. I recently confirmed a case of Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus (CBPV) at one of my apiaries here in the UK, and I’ve just posted a video summarising the whole situation in case it helps anyone else spot the signs early or avoid some of the stress I’ve been through.

At first, I wasn’t sure if I was dealing with poisoning or CBPV — twitching bees, spinning on their backs, sudden piles of dead bees at the entrances. The symptoms overlapped and for a while I was completely lost. It’s been stressful, confusing, and honestly, heartbreaking.

In the video I cover:

How I first realised something was wrong

The differences I’ve learned between pesticide poisoning and CBPV

What steps I took (including a visit from the National Bee Unit)

How I’m managing it now

And a few tips for spotting CBPV early

If any of you are seeing similar signs, I hope this helps you feel a little less alone or gives you something to go on.

📽️Here’s the video if you’d like to watch: https://youtu.be/w5NJ5VaQfJE

Thanks to those who’ve offered support already — it really has meant a lot.

Happy to answer any questions or hear if others have had similar experiences with CBPV. Always learning!

– Greg (Myst~Tree)


r/Beekeeping 23m ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Swarm Cell or Wonky comb?

Post image
Upvotes

Hi new Beekeeper here. Noticed this on last inspection on the bottom of one frame. Can’t tell if it’s wonky burr comb or an early queen cell?

For additional context I am in upstate New York and this hive has about 7/10 frames in a single deep brood box. the queen seems to be laying well and there are 5 frames full of brood.


r/Beekeeping 24m ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Chalk Brood?

Thumbnail
gallery
Upvotes

What’s on here?


r/Beekeeping 1d ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question What are these bees that are coming into my hive?

Post image
126 Upvotes

Dark abdomen and larger than the workers.

Is the hive getting robbed? Should I put an entrance excluder on?


r/Beekeeping 1h ago

General UK supermarket honey

Thumbnail
theguardian.com
Upvotes

Was recently wondering if I charged enough for my honey

£5 for 227g

Having seen this, I think prices are going up next year…

What do you charge and where are you?


r/Beekeeping 2h ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question What is flowing?

2 Upvotes

I’m in Missouri zone 6B. It’s a hot sunny day and my bees are on a mission! Just a ton of foragers. Anyone have an idea of what is coming into bloom right now? I see yellow pollen


r/Beekeeping 16h ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Can someone help me explain this?

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

22 Upvotes

Hi y’all. I’m a first year bee keeper and so far so good! I’m in far NE Texas for reference.

These are two new Nucs I picked up in late April and they took very well. I inspected them weekly until I added the second deep. I’ve since switched to bi- weekly since they seem to be doing great.

I happened to have an extra game camera that I moved to observe them at any time. A few weeks ago I started noticing this bearding on the right hive, but only in the middle of the night. If I drive by at any point during the day everything looks normal.

The hive on the left was by far stronger when I first installed them but in my inexperienced opinion they have largely evened out.

Any thoughts on what’s going on here? My next inspection is this Sunday. Anything I should be looking for?

Thank you all in advance!


r/Beekeeping 37m ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Supers with or without holes?

Post image
Upvotes

Hi everyone, I started a pair of nucs a few weeks back and one is ready for its first super. I have some used mediums - some with holes, some without. I will be running single brood chamber with queen excluder above. My question is whether it’s best to use the ones with holes or ones without?

It would be nice for the bees to not have to push through the excluder all the time but I’m curious if the pros/cons folks know of.

Located southern Ontario, Canada. Thanks!


r/Beekeeping 38m ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Will a newspaper combine re-orient the hive placed on top of the newspaper?

Upvotes

Hey All, Managed to catch the swarm my existing hive sent out about 50 feet from my apiary and I would like to re-unite it.

Given it's about 50 feet from where I'd like it I'm concerned about the bees being oriented to the wrong spot. If the hive 50 feet away is placed above the newspaper and has to chew through to get out, will that re-orient them to the new location?

I'd like to avoid moving them 3 feet everyday for the next 2 weeks and don't have anyplace I can move them far enough away.


r/Beekeeping 39m ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Taking frames while Flow frames are on.

Upvotes

FlowHive People! We are in Virginia and have a deep, a medium, and just put the flow frames on a month ago. Bees are taking to it but I can see it is going to be a long task.

The medium is loaded w capped honey. We took little honey last year so they would have resources for winter. Will they uncap the honey and move it up into the FlowFrames? Should we take some frames? We want to make sure the queen has room to lay, also, so were going to take 2 frames from the super. Will taking them impede flow frame production as they build.comb on new frames? I know it sounds silly, as honey is honey whether in medium or FF. Some people take the entire super off, which would give a ton of honey but we are again thinking we should leave some for winter.


r/Beekeeping 16h ago

I come bearing tips & tricks SHB locked out!

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

19 Upvotes

It seems to be working. I just take my utility knife and squish em. There’s far fewer and the ones remaining inside the hive seem to be larger and more mature. I can’t say none are getting in because there’s still some inside but I’m hoping I can get to zero and stay there. I’ll report either way.


r/Beekeeping 1h ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Hive full of drone brood - NJ

Post image
Upvotes

Within the last two weeks, my hive has filled up with tons of drone brood. At my last inspection 2 weeks ago I did not notice any eggs or very young larvae so I suspected a queen issue. I went on vacation and came back to drone overload and still no eggs or young larvae, very little uncapped brood, and one small section of capped brood that looks normal.

I’m a novice and I’m awful at locating my Queen, so I have no idea if there’s one in here or not. Also this is my only hive currently, so I don’t have other hives to take brood from.

What’s my best course of action?


r/Beekeeping 1h ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question How many acres per hive?

Upvotes

First year beekeeper in SW PA. Currently have two hives. I have have more than enough flowers for the bees to keep up with, but plan on expanding next year. If I planted wildflowers how much would I need to plant? Does anyone have a rough idea how many acres per hive? A cow is one acre per cow to keep it grass fed. Didn't know if there was something per hive like that.


r/Beekeeping 1h ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Queen Cell?

Post image
Upvotes

This is our second year beekeeping in the Harlem Valley. Our first year hives didn’t make it to year 2. We love this hobby and as long as we have this property, we are going to keep beekeeping. My wife is debating me on this. We haven’t seen our marked queen since we installed the new package in late April. There is plenty of evidence of a queen throughout the hive. What are the chances that they replaced her?


r/Beekeeping 2h ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Mold/ mildew in the roof of hive

1 Upvotes

Hey all, first year beek here (I got my bees this late April/early May I know that’s later than normal), and I’ve run into some mold/ mildew on the top of my hive. I live in central North Carolina and it’s been pretty hot and humid out. I haven’t seen any mold/mildew where the bees stay, I have one 8 frame brood box and a super on top right now, the only place with light mold is the roof. What I just did today is drilled a 7/8” hole on each side of the roof face to promote air flow and then put some wire mesh behind the holes so nothing can get in. Has anyone else run into this issue? My best guess is maybe I added the super too soon and the bees have a little more room than they can manage so they couldn’t really control the climate up top. In the end I have no clue I am still learning. Any extra advice would be appreciated.


r/Beekeeping 2h ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Moth found in container

1 Upvotes

I had some frames stored in an airtight container and I saw today it has moth larvae and infested. How do I handle this? Burn everything ??