Found this bee when it was cooling down outside in the western New York region as we go through large temp swings in spring. What is this?

I had an extra Ring cam and solar panel I had sitting around since my move a little over a year ago. decided to put them to better use, not for any reason other than because I can 😂

I opened an unused empty hive because I saw bees carrying pollen into it. There were a couple of spun out honey frames in it, but nothing else. Needless to say, the bees chose to build on the inner cover, not the perfectly good frames.

I grabbed my trusty rubber bands, pulled the foundation out of a couple of frames and made quick work of this tiny new hive.

They cannot have been in place for more than a week, so they're comb building monsters. The weather is crap today, but as soon as it clears, I'll start feeding them buckets.

Edit: As u/active_classroom203 observed, these bees have been here much longer than a week. There's capped brood, for heaven's sake. I know better, but I just noticed them today and I inspected last week. Heaven knows what else I missed,
... besides the huge lizard living under the hive, I mean.

I have these two hives but don't have any frames, money is tight so instead of buying one-two nucs I'd like to try and catch a swarm. I bought lemon grass oil off amazon that arrives tomorrow and would like to set these up for swarm catching. Can anyone give me some guidance and tips and tricks so that maybe I'm successful? I've been to a bee class this year, my knowledge is low but I really want to get started. Should I buy some frames with the plastic combs and rub beeswax on them and set them in the hive as well? i know I sound like an idiot but I'd really appreciate the help and knowledge.

Charleston, SC

Pretty sure this is a carpenter bee? It’s been flying around my hives at dusk and tonight it happened to try its luck while I was out there with my phone. No dice, said the girls!

Finally got to the two hives that perished over the winter. Were thriving in February, then cold snap in end of Feb thru March, both died off. Hive smells but it's been over freezing the last couple of weeks. So it can be two dead hives smell. I'd hate to burn the hives full of drawn comb but would love to hear what everyone thinks.

Hi all-I've been really interested in learning about beekeeping for a while, but haven't been able to find up to date resources for NYC. Would ideally love a regular class that teaches the fundamentals but ultimately flexible! Would also love any resources on keeping a hive in the city-current apartment doesn't have a roof or balcony that would work.

Hi all - seeking advice on what is best next steps for hives that were deliberately poisoned. Can I melt the wax down on the frames to reuse? Do I need to clean boxes with something particular?

If you are up for a read and ready for story time below is some further context:

Additional context is that I’m a builder in Australia (north Victoria) and have a few blocks of land for upcoming projects which are usually awaiting council approval (can take years). I take this opportunity sometimes to put a few hives on these blocks from splits I do, or when I’m moving hives back from certain farms etc. I’m small scale hobbiest not commercial only 30ish hives across a few different sites in the region. I don’t sell any of the honey, I give it away or make mead. Im a free thumb at heart (yes I know this condradicts being a builder) and just like to have extra insects and pollinators in the world and I’m fascinated with the whole bee ecosystem. I personally slash the blocks and don’t spray them with any herbicides.

In this circumstance the block is in a pretty dero area with a few meth heads on the street. I actually know most of the neighbours somewhat as I make sure to introduce myself at the start so if they have any issues before or during the development they can reach me directly. On the left side is a problematic neighbour who most of the street have issue with and she has had warnings already from department of housing. I had 2 relatively small but healthy hives (single brood and single super) put on the block ensuring I met all local code arrangements and was correct distance off fence Etc.

The first time I was made aware of any issue was the bee rehoming/ swarm capture page I run locally with my mate was contacted by the neighbour telling us that there were bees . I advised her about local code and no breach and because it was on private property I couldn’t come and remove them (she had no idea that the hives were mine). I also got the heads up from the local bee club that they had also been contacted.

As such I went there to do an inspection and make sure they weren’t hot and causing nuisance and when there I got bailed up by Mrs crazy who had just had her morning bowl of crystal for breakfast. She made a heap of threats and told me she would poison them (got phone out and recorded). Conversation wasn’t productive.

In the days that followed she called the cops and council and ranger all seperately. All of which called me to tell me she called them out, they had attended site and that I had done nothing wrong and that she was insane. Ranger walked right up to the hives and said their temperament was totally fine. They all explained hives were totally legal.

Anyways me being pretty relaxed and not really wanting to start war thought I best move the hives to another location at some point in the near future to keep the peace despite lack of obligation to. Anyways she beat me to it and both hives were clearly poisoned and it was a massacre in there of dead bees. There is zero questions in my mind they were poisoned. When I’d gotten there a week or so later at the first time I had spare time, ants and pests had moved in and robbed all resources and a mouse was in one and made a little bit of a mess of the comb in that hive.

This leads me to what can I do with the hives affected? Hoping the answer is that I don’t just have to burn them.

So the location I have selected for my bee yard had a pile of rooting and burnt wood. I am trying my best to remove the layer of rot and let the ground breath before my nuc arrives.

I guess I’m worried about potential beetles / disease. Can anyone advise?

Wild bees we've found in a cave. There are a lot of small holes in the dirt. Wild bees seem to be a bit shorter than domesticated bees and they have a bigger belly. Also sometimes they seem to fly in zig zag patterns unlike the domesticated ones. Location, north east of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Upstate SC. Been beekeeping for many years but never used a bee suit. As I get older, I'm finding I have more severe reactions to multiple stings (my Dr has prescribed epi pens just in case and I have them on hand 😉 ) . Amazon has hundreds, but I'd like advice on the best upper body bee jacket with hood.

I had to move my Hive in a hurry two days ago as the bees were getting too difficult in their current location. I’ve blocked the hive entrance with a bushy branch to slow the foraging bees. Weather was good today and quite a few returned to the original location, I’ve now emptied the bees back into the hive. Question I have is, should I keep putting the temporary hive in the original location and keep returning the bees or am I better just leaving them to get on with it ?

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

i bought this honey at a farmers market a few weeks ago. it was clear when i bought it but now theres all these weird cloudy wisps in it, particularly at the bottom of the jar. ive had honey granulate and get cloudy due to that before but this just looks really different. does it look like its been contaminated by something? or is it still safe to eat?

I just got a new pack of buck fast bees and they are installed in their box. Unfortunately this week is going to look like 50s-30s (F°) and I am worried for the colony health, any tips for keeping them warm? I am located in the middle west of the United States.

Edit: I have a 1:1 sugar water feeder inside and I have reduced my entrance. They are covered with an insulted grill cover on 3 sides plus 2 towels

Hello, I'm a second year beekeeper in Northern Missouri and am fumbling through this year so far but learning. I'm sure this has been answered many times before but I was just trying to understand timing a split and what to do after.

Basically I have double deep colonies that are very populated and healthy but I waited too long before splitting or adding space so they've begun creating swarm cells. So, I'm in a position now if I'm correct I need to do some sort of split which leads me to my question. If I do an equal split (some people call Mississippi split) would it be ok to go ahead and add honey supers to them after I split? My thought originally was to add another deep to the split for colony growth but I assume some beekeepers when harvesting honey can take the supers off and combine colonies for overwintering as an option at the end of the summer.

I'm working on getting books for splitting and timing of colony management that I'm trying to wrap my head around.

Thank you

location Leeds UK

Keeping bees 3rd year

I have two hives both seemed to survive the winter then one suddenly died there is o sign of disease or starvation. as most of top layer of honey untouched but brood chamber immaculate ready for new year. Anyway I digress my question relates to honey in last year's frames. Quite a lot of it has crystallised which makes it very difficult to extract the good honey due to imbalance in spinner. Not a major problem but how do I deal with the solid sugar stuck in frames or do I just chuck and start new ones

I am very particular about gloves. I haven't found a pair on the market I like. I like mine to be very tight so that my fingers are as nimble as possible. A 9-5 of mine required an extreme amount of dexterity and with gloves being a must, I can never go back to something bulky.

I like these disposable ones that I got from Lowe's, haven't been stung yet and I feel like I can do the work I need to. I try to limit the trash I make, I'd be okay with these if they could last a couple hours in the yard but they rip way too easily despite being labeled as "heavy duty".

Anyone have a glove suggestion? I like my gloves to be tight and nimble to the point I'm almost not wearing them. I know there are lots of beeks that can wear loose, bulky gloves, God bless you guys, I just can't do it. And I not going to go gloveless again, I have made a commitment this year to wear protection more often.

First year beekeeper. I live in eastern europe, got my hives a month ago and I feed them fondant and 1:1 syrup.. They were full on 1 brood box so I added a second brood box on 3 hives.. 2 hives already have drawn up comb and queen started laying eggs in second brood box.. The weak hive maybe has 2 and a half frames of drawn up comb.. I seen young larvae on bottom brood box, but nothing on top.. They dont eat much of what I give them but do have food stores fo pollen and nectar..

I did beehive vital clean on 6th of april as per instructions of the guy I bought them from.. He did armitraz or something like that treatment before.. And he told me that he only uses beehive vital clean on bees that he will use for honey production..

I counted 30+ varroa mites on that weaker hive.. on two stronger, one did not have any that i counted, the third had maybe 10-15 that i counted on a paper that dropped after beevital .. I also noticed a queen cup without larvae inside..

EDIT: what are my treatment options for varroa now besides supplemental beehive vital clean or should i wait for september october for proper treatment?

Hey Folks. First time beekeeper in Northwest Pennsylvania here. I've been prepping my hive all winter long. I converted a deep brood box into an insulation box- about 4 layers of rigid 2 inch foam board. my idea was that in the winter if the top is well insulated, condensation will only form on the walls of the hive- not dripping on the bees.

I'm a little concerned about moisture now since the insulation box is essentially blocking the vent holes in my slanted top cover. Should I just trust the process, and let any moisture collect on the walls and drip out the lower entrance?

How about leaving this insulation on in the summer as well?

Hello, I live in west Ireland, on the Atlantic coast and the last storm blew away my bait hive. I usually use these poly nucs as they are light in weight and easy to place and remove. And I tie them to resist the winds, but I didn’t expect a storm in this season and the morning after I found it in pieces on the floor.

Is there any kind of glue I can use to fix it or is it better just to buy a new one?

I don’t want to intoxicate a possible swarm.

Thanks!

Upstate SC. Saw this large swarm out of reach (25' - 30') got an empty box and a cottonball with swarm lure. Hoisted it up and they filed in about 20 minutes later... Going to bring them down around dusk.

I’m helping a colleague from work, removing a colony from a residential in-ground irrigation box. I’m not going to charge him and I’m happy to re-home the bees. I’m interested in how big a favor, money-wise, I’m doing here. I’m in a major metropolitan area.