3 years ago bees colonized the wall of my unused chicken coop. My neighbors were complaining about the bee flow (it's next to their pool area) so I brought in Backwards Beekeepers to do a cutout (I'll link the video when I have privileges), and they took my bees off to Topanga.
That wall must be a great place for a hive, because it promptly got re-colonized, so 2 weeks ago I brought the same master beekeeper out for a cutout, with me assisting , and this time I kept the bees!
It was a decent sized colony, and we filled a deep body with 9 frames of brood and a little honey. On top I put a medium with empty frames (just popsicle sticks glued into the top groove and painted with wax).
I crushed and strained the excess comb to yield about 10 lbs of tasty honey, and it all measures <18% on my spiffy new $29 refractometer from amazon.
We went back in a week later to check on them, and while we didn't look hard enough to see fresh eggs, there was enough new comb and other healthy activity that my mentor declared it queenright. There seems to be good bee flow in front of the hive during the day, and in the evening there's a nice hum if I put my ear (gently) up to the size of the bottom body.
My environment is semi-suburban. Home are typically on 1/2 acre lots (plus or minus), and the nearest Starbucks is more than a mile away as the bee flies .
So how do I keep myself from opening up and checking it every day? What's the longest I should wait before checking to see if should add another super?
That wall must be a great place for a hive, because it promptly got re-colonized, so 2 weeks ago I brought the same master beekeeper out for a cutout, with me assisting , and this time I kept the bees!
It was a decent sized colony, and we filled a deep body with 9 frames of brood and a little honey. On top I put a medium with empty frames (just popsicle sticks glued into the top groove and painted with wax).
I crushed and strained the excess comb to yield about 10 lbs of tasty honey, and it all measures <18% on my spiffy new $29 refractometer from amazon.
We went back in a week later to check on them, and while we didn't look hard enough to see fresh eggs, there was enough new comb and other healthy activity that my mentor declared it queenright. There seems to be good bee flow in front of the hive during the day, and in the evening there's a nice hum if I put my ear (gently) up to the size of the bottom body.
My environment is semi-suburban. Home are typically on 1/2 acre lots (plus or minus), and the nearest Starbucks is more than a mile away as the bee flies .
So how do I keep myself from opening up and checking it every day? What's the longest I should wait before checking to see if should add another super?