Newspaper Combine....now what do we do

[JC2783]

Our #2 colony was very weak. We've dealt with wax moth and finally got a handle on that, but the bees just seemed to be struggling. today, we made a split from our extremely large #1 colony and moved an 8-frame deep of open and capped brood, capped honey and pollen + bees. newspaper was placed on top of #2, then then new deep. We propped the outer cover open with a couple small sticks so the bees could exit via the back notch in the inner cover. So we wait..... How will we know if we were successful? what if we aren't? what could go wrong at this point? Any advice as to our next step(s) would be appreciated. Yes, we found the queen and capped brood in the bottom deep before we began.

[Mr.Beeman]

Wait two days and remove the newspaper. Should be fine.

[avesterfelt]

The last time I did a combine, I put the paper on and came back in 4 days, there was not a shred of paper in the hive, only what was trapped between the boxes.

Check again in a week to make sure you have fresh eggs and everything should be just fine.

Not to be Debbie downer, but you may still end up with a week hive if the queen is just making week bees. I would suggest a nuc and let them make you a good queen from the strong hive or go buy a new queen. Either way when you have another queen, replace the one from your week hive.