How many bees in a hive?

A recently split hive may have approximately 5000 bees, but after it becomes well established there may be upwards of 10,000 bees.

 

What are the dimensions of the hive?

Hive boxes will differ from supplier to supplier, however I use the Tony Goodrich hive box which external dimensions are the same as a standard OATH hive.

How long does a bee live?

The hive as an organism can out live you or I, but the individual bee’s life span is approximately 50 days from an egg to morphing into a bee, the another100 days as an adult bee.

When a bee dies the hive replace it?

Yes, the queen is always laying new eggs, so there are always new bees.

How does the weather affect the hive?

The bees know what’s happening with the weather well before I do! They will hurry home is bad weather is on the way and they will not come out if it is dark, wet or windy. They will not come out until the weather hits 18-20 degrees, preferring to stay in when it’s a bit chilly. They will need extra care if a heatwave is on the way, or conversely if we are expecting frosts.

Is it safe for children and pets to play near the hive?

Yes, children can play nearby the hive with no concerns, the bees will just move around them. Occasionally a bee may get caught in some clothing or hair, and you can gently remove the bee without fear. They do have mandibles and can bite, but not sting. It is a very mild bite, just to let you know they are there.

What maintenance is involved?

Asides from taking care of the hive in extreme wether conditions, there is very little you need to do for these little bees as they are very self sufficient. Once a hive reaches capacity, you have three options available; you can do nothing! It is okay to leave your hive as is if you don’t want to intervene The bees will send off a few hundred bees called scout bees and they will find a “suitable” location out in the wild to build a daughter colony. Once the nest is established they will escort a princess bee over and once she mates and becomes a fertile queen the mother and daughter colony cease sharing resources. You will still have a full box of bees and the wild bee populations have just increased. Your next option is to propagate your bees, the method I personally use is called splitting. You can split you hive by taking the full top hive and placing it on an empty bottom hive and visa versa, and one hive becomes two. Or, if you have a honey pot hive you can start harvesting honey from the jar collection unit, or the honey super box.

Do I have to feed or provide water for the bees?

No, you do not have to provide water for the bees, but if you wish to you can. Just ensure they have something in the water such as marbles to allow them to climb onto something to fly away. You do not need to feed bees anything outside of planting flowers for them. In fact it is not recommended, bees will get everything they need from flowers.

How many hives can I have in my suburban yard?

As many as you would like! It would be very hard to reach capacity in Suburbia. In rural areas however, it would depend on how much forage they have access to.

How do I know when to split the hive?

You can get a feel for whether your hive is ready to split by checking the following:

Can you hear the bees buzzing on a warm day?

Can you smell their honey on a warm day?

Are there 60 plus bees coming and going per minute?

If it’s one of my hives, is it between 7-11kg?

Finally, when you open the hive, is the brood large and healthy and does the hive have plenty of queen cells and food stores?

Are there any predators to the hive?

Yes there is, but if you have a strong colony of bees you do not have to worry as they simply take care of themselves.

Does the hive need sun or shade?

They hive will need FULL shade, with a roof and to be positioned in a cool spot all year round. The only exception to this is if you are in a cooler climate such as Sydney, you may wish to have a “winter” location where the hive gets some morning sunlight. Remember when moving a hive, it is best to be done at a slow pace of under a metre a day, or lock them up at night, move them over 2km away and let them fly there for a few weeks, then lock them in at night again and return them to their new location.

Do bees inhabit an empty box?

No, bees will almost never set up in your empty hive box. You will need to start with an established colony of bees and then down the track you can split or educt the bees into your hive. Unlike European bees, you can’t simply take a few frames and a queen and start a new colony. The only reason you would take them out of one box and place them into another (this practice is called a brood lift or hive transfer) is if the original box was unsafe for the bees. The reason for this is that it is a very risky procedure; it does a lot of damage to the nest, depletes the hive of food stores and if not done with great care there will be lots of bee death or they may even fail.