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New keeper and questions on harvesting

3K views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  Sunflower42479 
#1 ·
Hi new here... I just started a hive this year. I chopped a nuc to fit in my Warre... Talk about a stressful day... In any case my top box ended up with the nuc frames chopped and rubber banded to my top bars... This happened in late April and it appears now that the top box is basically full of capped honey (difficult to examine them as the top bar pulls away from the comb body when I try to pull them out). I added a box (so now at three hive bodies) a day or two ago. As it is so early in the year I am tempted to pull the top box and get rid of the attic comb structures. Any thoughts?
 
#3 ·
Hi, welcome to the craft of frameless Warré beekeeping and the forum.

Have the bees built downward past the first/initial box? Stopping building regardless of added space below can be a problem, often termed the "false floor" phenomenon. If you are afflicted by false-floor, you could try omitting top bars below the stoppage. If not using frames or demiframes, the combs will be secured to the box walls, and the two-box tall comb could be carefully cut with cord or cheesewire when harvest time comes round.

Given the initial trauma of installation, it might be advisable to forego harvest this year. Unless your colony has fully occupied 3+ boxes (do you have a lift?) you won't be doing it any favors by harvesting or attempting to "adjust" comb structure.

How is the forage this year? Are there likely to be plentiful pollen-rich plants through the autumn? Honey is essential of course but fat bees going into winter are needed for rapid spring buildup.

/Alex Templeton
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the response.

So my bees had moved down into the second box quite well and I added the third box with top bars. I was going to give them a month or so to build it out and see where we stand then.

According to information that I have we should just be entering the high nectar period where I am. So the thing I'm not sure of is how to tell if the bees are bringing back nectar... Pollen no problem (that has definitely subsided). But I'm not sure how long the pollen lasts here. (Again it looks as though there should be pollen until August or so based on the information I have)

I do not have a lift.
 
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