Warre Hive Populated

[forgeblast]

Built a warre hive this winter, plans at biobees.com, and finished it with
beeswax and linseed oil.
Was finally able to get bees and installed the package.
First time with bees and made a few mistakes.
1. Used an Introducting box a box with no top bars, this caused the bees to begin building comb on the fabric that i use between my quilt box (wood shaving filled box) and the roof.
next time I will just make a funnel and remove a couple of frames to let them into the hive.
2. kept the queen in the cage and should have just released her, she was with them for two days, and it would have ment not having to open the hive again.

It was a rush putting the bees in like drinking 200 cups of coffee. Surreal too seeing all the bees. I picked them up at 7am at the post office and by 730 had them in the hive.
I have worked them twice now, didnt get stung, did learn to go slow and to have a soft touch, you never know where there may be a bee.

I am happy with them, 3 days after putting them in I saw some flying in with pollen. We finally had a nice sunny day and the bumbles were out along with these bees. The kale I planted last summer, made it through the winter and is just flowering and they were on it saturday. I was impressed for it making it through a zone 5 winter.

We have a 2yo and she was so excited to see the bees. We have been working for the last couple of weeks with her not being afraid of the bumbles and being "kind" towards them. She was brave and near dusk came to the hive with me, she heard the bees in side and said "the bees are buzzing for me, they are singing to me" and as we walked home she was buzzing. That moment alone was worth every dollar spent.

I still need to trouble shoot my electric fence before there is any bear trouble.

[beth14kk9]

You should post pictures!

[forgeblast]

Here are some pictures of my set up.
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii171/forgeblast/bees002.jpg
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii171/forgeblast/bees001.jpg
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii171/forgeblast/bees005.jpg
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii171/forgeblast/bees004.jpg

[Buz Green]

Nice!
For future reference: I usually take the bars out of the box below the top box and then bump and dump the bees into that box and put on the top box. The bees will start building at the top. Then a few days later I put the bars back in the "funnel" box and put it back.
Looks like you have a great setup. Those bees will be happy there.

[forgeblast]

Thanks Buz, I appreciate the info. I want to make a couple more hives this winter. Do you add anything else to your topbars, or do you leave them flat for the bees to attach comb to? ie wax strip, cut the top bar as a triangle?

[Buz Green]

Because of the way I harvest my boxes (pull the aligning pins out, turn the box bars down, cut all around the perimeter with a long knife and then sleeve the box off leaving the comb and the top bars sitting on the table) I don't really care how the bees build their comb. If you go to my web site and click on Our Story, near the end there are some pics of boxes with comb. I don't do anything at all to the bars and usually even if the bees build screwy comb to begin with, by the time they get down to the second box they follow the bars.

[forgeblast]

Really like the web site. Nice write up and information on it.
I was wondering if you have had any bear trouble, do you use an electric fence?
I was thinking too, that if they do a messy comb the first time, and then follow the bars, by next year that messy comb will be processed and they will just continue to follow what is in the top box (hopefully). How many boxes do you start with, looks like 3? but is that funnel attached to the box on top, so when you remove that you only have two?

[Buz Green]

Hey, Forgeblast.
I haven't had any bear trouble yet, I will cross that bridge if I come to it. I live in the high desert about 20 miles southeast of Denver and although there are bears here they are not as prevelant as they are on the west side.
As for comb building, sometimes they start it straight and then the next box is curved or diagonal.
Unfortunately they don't read the books so they just do what they want to do.
I have found, with the short season we have in my climate, that I have to leave them at least two full boxes to winter over which means that I wind up leaving a partially filled third box because the brood is between the second and third box.
I start new hives with 4 boxes and usually remove the bottom box in the fall if it's empty and then replace it in the spring. The second year if they have filled the the top 3 boxes and are working in the bottom box I remove the top box and harvest it and then put it back on the bottom.
The makeshift funnel you saw in the picture was a first time newbee trying to make sure nothing went amiss. I've never used it since, I just take the bars out of one of the lower boxes and dump the bees in and put a box or two over it, wait a couple of days until they have settled in at the top of the hive and pull the box, put the bars back in it and put it back in place.