Hiving my bees into a moveable frame hive

[Lew Best]

Hi guys

Weather is getting nice; bees taking 2:1 like crazy & bringing in pollen! Want to move them to their permanent home. Here's their current home; this is where they took up residence a year or 2 ago. The pic was taken about 2 months ago when I brought them home. current bee box (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v707/lewbest/IMG_0209copy.jpg) .

The bottom of the box is open, sitting on plywood and they enter & exit through those 4 top corner holes primarily.

Had an idea; please give opinions. Would the bees work their way down into new foundation if I sat this box (which as I said has an open bottom) on the top frame bars of a hive & stacked another hive body over it with a top so they'd have to go down through the frames of foundation to come & go? If so, do yall have any tips or suggestions on this? Like I said they're taking sugar water & bringing in pollen rapidly on warm days so figure they're building up; thought if I could get them to "move down" this would be simpler than cutting & banding the current comb into frames.

Thanks!!!!!!!

Lew in Texas

[BULLSEYE BILL]

I would flip the box over and trim out all comb not in use. Install frames of drawn comb in the box touching the comb. You could drill a couple of holes and install dowl rods for frame rests. Cover with a lid and a small opening. They will not like their comb upside down and will eventully move up to the right side up frames of comb. Once the existing brood is hatched out, (two or three weeks), move the frames into a nuc and shake the bees off the old comb and into the nuc. Put their stores out in the yard for them to rob out and take back to their new home.

If you don't have any drawn comb it will take longer. A frame of honey with the drawn frames will draw them up faster.

[Lew Best]

Hi Bill

Thanks for the idea but I have a couple of problems. first off being a newbee I have no drawn comb to use. Second, the "green box" is about 11x11 iirc; small enough that I can set a regular hive body over it so way too small for frames. My original plan was to see if i could cut those 4 little feet off of it (they're on top as it sits) and then if I put a one inch spacer between the top & bottom hive bodies wih the box inverted (idea from your suggestion to Clint) the frames would sit correctly and a cover would fit. then I came up with the idea of setting the green box on top of the frames as I thought it might be better to leave the bees "right side up"? If I put the box on the bottom inverted they won't be "forced" into the frames of foundation above them unless/until they get crowded in the bottom.

I can cut the current combs out & attach them to frames in a hive body but thought if I could get them to "move on their own" it would not only be simpler but perhaps less stressful on the bees?

Thanks again!

Lew

[Michael Bush]

Just remember, in the mean time, the bees will fill any space they can get to with comb. smile.gif They don't always do what you want.

BTW You can tie a lot of small pieces of comb into one frame.

[greenbeekeeping]

Hi Lew I think that If I was wanting to transfer them over I would cut them out and tie the comb into frames

[east_stingray]

How, exactly, do you tie comb into a frame?

[Antero]

Small thin wire will make it easier to tie the comb to the frames. Don't worry about geting 10 frames in the super, just get as much as you can, without crushing the combs. Be careful you don't damage the queen.


Terry

[Michael Bush]

Rubber bands work. Cotton string works. Wire works.

http://www.kohala.net/bees/capture/tying.html

Or make some of these:

http://www.beesource.com/plans/swarmframe.htm

[BULLSEYE BILL]

Oh, little box, nevermind. :rolleyes:

Well then I would cut the BROOD comb to fit into frames and install into a nuc box and feed, feed, feed.

My prefered way is to put a strip of narrow wood across one side of a frame and rubberband the comb in. You can see a picture of a frame on my site, click 'swarms and removals', then click on 'removals'.