2nd peek in

[Meerkat]

Hi,

I'm new to all this. I took a peek into my hive yesterday, waited till mid afternoon to make sure the heaps of the girls were out, opened it up and oh my look at how many there are !!! I was expecting a pile but just not so many

The smoke obviously helped but by the time I pulled a frame out and checked it they were piling out of the top of the remaining frames again.

I know it's silly but ...

apart from "with care" whats the easiest way to pull the frames out/put back in without squishing the girls along the way ?

One thing is that I'm going to do it later in the afternoon next time as well.

[Hobie]

Not at all silly. At least I hope not because I asked the same question about 5 months ago!

What I was told, and what seems to work well, is to first remove a frame or two on the outside, lifting very slowly. The outside frames usually do not have brood, and the queen is not as likely to be there. Shake the bees back into the hive, and set frame(s) aside.

You then have room to slide the next frame out and lift it without rolling the bees as you lift. Reverse the procedure to replace frames, setting them slowly into the larger gap, and then sliding up against the rest of the frames. All slowly and watching for the bees crawling between the wooden parts at the last minute. Slide the last frame in on the outside.

I, too, am a beginner, so hopefully some more experienced people will chime in.

I'm jealous! Your summer is just starting, and here we are, with snow and cold!

[buz]

On second thought--maybe you require expert assistance. I'd bet several experienced beeks would gladly stop by for a looksee.

Just as a tease--what part of Ozziland are you in? I have overnight rights in Adelaide--sister-in-law.

Lol

[Meerkat]

Melbourne :-P

[buz]

That's not so far away--just across a few wine fields is it? I was only kidding about you needing assistance, but since you have the full sun and no snow........I'm sure there'd be many willing to visit. My Sis/in/law usually shows up here in May...stays long enough to miss most of your winter. By the time she gets home... well she sends back pix of the BarB.

If you have a bee brush--use it--gently.
Happy

[tecumseh]

meercat sezs:
apart from "with care" whats the easiest way to pull the frames out/put back in without squishing the girls along the way ?

tecumseh replies:
do you still refer to a female aussie as mate?
anyway what is the proper term?

some folks (tecumseh included) typically pulls one frame (and thereby leave 9 frames in a 10 frame hive) out of the box. it is certainly better to do this after the wax has been pulled, or you can get a mess.

[Hillside]

You'll just have to get over the fear of squishing a bee or two. It's going to happen. The key is to not squish the queen. Start from one end. Once you have an open space, slide each frame away from the others before you pull it out. Give the queen a second or two to move out of the way and remove the frame slowly.

I usually remove two outside frames and set them aside so there is room to work.

I don't know much about conditions in Australia, but if you have bees boiling out everywhere, maybe it's time to put on another box.

[Meerkat]

Yeah some wtill call females mate and the proper term for ..... sheila... chick.... which term :)

[tecumseh]

hillside is quite correct to pick up on the fact that the season is polar to our season here in the us of a and when the bees are boiling up from between the frames it is definitely time to add another box.

good luck...