Hi:
I realize this might be a little early for this question but here goes anyway. In the spring when you checkerboard a hive, reading between the lines of post here, you use drawn comb. What if you don't have drawn comb? I tried using foundation and the bees just extended the combs, in the area where there was no brood, on either side of the foundation and man what a mess I had. I use only 8 frame medium boxes with 3 boxes as the brood area. Do you checkerboard any boxes above there? There seems to always be brood in the 4th box
Thanks
Barney
i would say even better ed that you have all mediums. that way you can keep things 'open' above (checkerboarding) and in the broodnest (opening the broodnest). did you get a chance to read walt's manuscript? if yes, then you will know what to watch for and when, and you can always split if swarm preps get too far along.
did you try any manipulations at all last year? you are well to the south of me, so i would think that you will have swarming earlier in the season than i do. last year was late march to early may.
ITS,
Not Neil but I checkerboarded my all 8 frame medium hive on Jan. 22 last year (Nashville) and it worked well. Just pulled the empty box from the bottom and alternated the empty comb frames with the full top (4th) box and put both on top. No swarming. I only did it that early because I had a 60 degree day and decided to take advantage of it, but given that everything happened 3 weeks early, I think it was actually about right--have heard several who checkerboarded later and had swarms. Given that you are South of me, I would think that you ought to do it any time now.
Howdy squarepeg. I didn't do much manipulation last year as I was starting out without any drawn comb. I was mostly chasing swarms from my 3 colonies (all swarmed) in the early spring. Looks like my first swarm issued on April 2nd. I actually had two that issued back-to-back...I was watching the last bees from the 1st swarm land in the briar patch when I heard something over to my right...the second swarm. As a newbee I was about to begin my trial by fire!
I ended up with the three weakened colonies and two "new" colonies from swarming...I think I possibly missed a swarm or to, also. As a newbee I fed, fed, fed, till they wouldn't take anymore...yeah, right.
Anyhow, the only thing that could be considered a manipulation was that I put bottom supered the only hive that looked like it was going to make a crop. All I had was foundation. That colony made 75# of honey for me...basically the only honey I got last year...I think that was a situation of "a blind hog even finds an acorn once in a while". Certainly not due to my prowess as a beekeeper!
I have read off and on in Walt's manuscript and some of the pdf's posted here on Beesource. One thing that throws me is an early mention of using shallows on top and bottom of the deep. It seems, too, that someone mentioned that if you're not going to follow the method right (speaking of the shallows) that it's not going to work correctly. I'm seriously looking at just checkerboarding above the brood to give them open avenues to room above. I've got three hives going into spring and I'd love to get 75# off each of them this year! I may go ahead with one of them as it seems to be packed with bees and plenty of honey left...I could open that up easily by checkerboarding.
It will have to wait probably until next week, though, this weekend I'll be heading to Auburn.
I've been studying over some of Michael Bush's writings on splits. I definitely want start a nuc or two from the hive that produced my honey last year. The bees are just a bit on the hot side but they certainly made the honey.
007, thanks for the feedback. Yes, I think I need to be doing something now, but will be a week before I can. Maybe I can squeeze in a little bee time this Sunday afternoon....predicted high of 62, mostly sunny, and breezy. Hmm, it's a thought!
I understand where you're coming from about the season coming early last year and possibly this year. The bees have been bringing in some pollen *and* some nectar from somewhere...my mentor has also noted this. This seems to go along with what Walt has said about there being something like a mini-flow before the main flow...and the bees use it to help build up on. But, I'm just a second year newbee who's been stretched thin here lately and having to refresh himself on stuff he thought he already had learned.<sigh>
Ok, so Sunday afternoon if the weather is nice I will most likely do some manipulations.
thanks ed, i really enjoyed your video and photos.
i talked to walt and he said that the checkerboarding concept should work ok with mediums instead of shallows. the one on the bottom is brought up to the top this time of year and 'checkerboarded' with the one that overwintered on top. mostly you don't want solid honey above the broodnest.
having the drawn comb is the key, and i was in the same boat last year in not having much. i managed to catch three swarms and let the rest go into the woods, hopefully to become feral survivors.
the only hive i had last year that did not swarm was the one i had enough drawn comb to checkerboard, and that was done in early february.
if the redbuds and dogwoods haven't bloomed yet, you should still have time.
what i would look for in terms of early swarm preps, is the lack of a band of open and polished cells between the brood and the nectar above the brood. walt has an illustration of this in his manuscript, and if you find them putting nectar there they have stopped expanding and begun reducing the broodnest. they are definitely getting close to swarming if you find backfilling in the broodnest.
as far as splits, i had really good results using the 'cut down split' as described on mike bush's website. i harvested honey off of both the parent hive and the split last year. that split was done it late march with just three frames and no feeding!
cemoka,
Saw your question, but was on the road in Ohio at the time.
Can not give you a positive answer because we have not tried it, but my guess is that syrup above their capped honey would be treated as feed and not get the desired effect. We often comb feed at the top, and that syrup is readily moved down to the broodnest for their purposes.
Keep in mind that the colony seems to work to the top of their CAPPED honey as if it were the top of their residence cavity. Empty comb or foundation above is easily ignored.
It might be worth a trial - if only on a sample basis. I've been wrong on guesses before.
Walt
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