I got up some courage and checked on the bees this morning. I realized the lid has been on crooked and the bees have been going in the top. I didn't know what to expect or how many survivors I really had. The answer was: quite a few.
Still not having a smoker - I knew the bees would be more than annoyed when I opened the lid. So I got a spray bottle and filled it with water and sugar. That is also supposed to help the bees calm down and take out a bit of the fight in them. If they are gorged with sugar solution, they are more likely to be calm and not try to sting.
Here is the link to the video of me opening the hive:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjf0kXutM5o
I decided to take off the comb that the bees were putting in the wrong place. I realized that the lid had been on crooked, so the bees were going in through the top lifted corner and then creating a comb inside the hive. When I looked inside, no bees were really inside the hive, mostly just on the inside lid and underneath the top inside lid. Without a queen bee this hive is just in total distress. And I am in distress. It is a learning process for both the bees and the keeper! After I took the lid off and then put it back on correctly the hundreds of bees out on their pollen runs came back. When I came back from a party I noticed that a large grouping of them had attached to the outside of the hive. So then I tried to scoop them and shoo them off the side and into the hive. This was not a success. The bees then decided they were going to cluster on the side of the house. I had to spray them down. This is so bad. I need a queen ASAP!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjf0kXutM5o
I'm out there with my tiny spray bottle all suited up and I pulled off the lid. If you don't want bees all up in your bee veil, I recommend you pull the lid off from the other side and open it away from you, that way the bees will fly up and out in a different pattern than toward you. When you have thousands of bees, it takes the edge off for the bee keeper and probably the bees.
I decided to take off the comb that the bees were putting in the wrong place. I realized that the lid had been on crooked, so the bees were going in through the top lifted corner and then creating a comb inside the hive. When I looked inside, no bees were really inside the hive, mostly just on the inside lid and underneath the top inside lid. Without a queen bee this hive is just in total distress. And I am in distress. It is a learning process for both the bees and the keeper! After I took the lid off and then put it back on correctly the hundreds of bees out on their pollen runs came back. When I came back from a party I noticed that a large grouping of them had attached to the outside of the hive. So then I tried to scoop them and shoo them off the side and into the hive. This was not a success. The bees then decided they were going to cluster on the side of the house. I had to spray them down. This is so bad. I need a queen ASAP!
I ordered a Queen last Thursday from ohbees.com; Oliverez Honey Bees. Well, the young girl on the phone shipped my bee to my HOUSE instead of my office (where I told her 3x plus the address). When I phoned on Friday I spoke with Donna who said they would make it right if the queen didn't show up alive. Well it's been 5 days (it was supposed to be over nighted) and STILL no queen. My bees are all whacked out...the keeper is all whacked out and stressing...I needed this Queen about uh, 5 days ago! I called this morning and a new Queen is being over nighted today, to my office, but jeeze....I hope I have some willing workers left tomorrow so I can put the Queen in the hive!
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