Hi
Been learking round for a while finally got bees and have some questions.
Got 2 nucs beginning of May. The first hive is doing well, have already added a second deep box, top feeder is still on.
but my second hive still hasnt drawn out the first deep. This hive sounds differnet when you open it, there is a queen, havent been brave enough to check carefully for eggs, have seen larvae. But the 3 frames they came with are built out thicker than the wooden top bar so when we added out undrawn frames in (with just a sheet of beewax) I dont think the bee space is right cause the drawn out comb is too thick and touching the wood of the next frame at the top?
So they have drawn out these blobs between the old nuc frame and the undrawn frames and stuck them together. We have taken it apart a few times but can I cycle those too thick frames out at sometime, (if that is the problem) to get rid of them, or is there a better way? Have had to cut out egg size pieces of comb and honey, is there anyway of getting the bees off of it, the bees seem to be get stick to it.
How do you decide that a queen is maybe not good? and needs to be replaced? Or is the other hive just really good?
Also have a lot of ants feeding from the top feeder, too late to put the hive on legs anything i can do about that?
Sugar syrup question, should i buy shares in a sugar company
each hive has had about 5lbs of sugar, would they use that again in the fall?
thanks in advance
lots of questions but thanks
Been learking round for a while finally got bees and have some questions.
Got 2 nucs beginning of May. The first hive is doing well, have already added a second deep box, top feeder is still on.
but my second hive still hasnt drawn out the first deep. This hive sounds differnet when you open it, there is a queen, havent been brave enough to check carefully for eggs, have seen larvae. But the 3 frames they came with are built out thicker than the wooden top bar so when we added out undrawn frames in (with just a sheet of beewax) I dont think the bee space is right cause the drawn out comb is too thick and touching the wood of the next frame at the top?
So they have drawn out these blobs between the old nuc frame and the undrawn frames and stuck them together. We have taken it apart a few times but can I cycle those too thick frames out at sometime, (if that is the problem) to get rid of them, or is there a better way? Have had to cut out egg size pieces of comb and honey, is there anyway of getting the bees off of it, the bees seem to be get stick to it.
How do you decide that a queen is maybe not good? and needs to be replaced? Or is the other hive just really good?
Also have a lot of ants feeding from the top feeder, too late to put the hive on legs anything i can do about that?
Sugar syrup question, should i buy shares in a sugar company
thanks in advance
lots of questions but thanks