Does the inner cover go below or on top of the top feeder?

Oldtimer said:

The bees will not be able to access the feeder to get the sugar if the inner cover is under it so you should remove it ASAP. Package bees will start dying very quick if no feed available.

I usually put the inner cover on top of the feeder and under the lid, just as an extra precaution against robbing, if the lid is a bit wonky.

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There is a hole in the center of the inner covers I have. Like this one:



Shouldn't they be able to make it to the feeder through there? If need be, I'll switch them out after work tomorrow though.

However, I was able to fix it yesterday after work. I got all of the inner covers moved on all of the hives. I also did hive inspections on all of my five new hives. Three pound bee packages were put in the hive four days ago.

1. Italians - LOTS of activity. All ten frames had drawn comb, nectar, and pollen in many cells. Queen cage was empty. I was not able to find the queen. I did not see any eggs.

2. Saskatraz #1 - 8 of the 10 frames had drawn comb, with nectar and pollen in many cells. I was not able to find the queen. I did not see any eggs.

3. Saskatraz #2 - 6 of the 10 frames had drawn comb, with nectar and pollen in many cells. Maybe slightly less drawn comb. I was not able to find the queen. I did not see any eggs. There was some comb on the bottom of one of the frames:



4. Carniolan #1: Not many bees present. There was drawn comb on only one side of two frames. However, I was able to find the queen, and I actually saw her lay eggs (well, it looked that way to me; she was putting her abdomen into one of the cells). There were only bees covering one side of those two frames. Should I be worried about the small amount of bees in this hive?

5. Carniolan #2: Lots of bees present. There was drawn comb on 7 of the 10 frames, with lots of nectar, and some pollen in the cells. I saw the queen. I did not see eggs.



Overall, I'm pretty happy after four days as a complete newbee. However, the low number of bees in the first Carniolan hive does have me a bit concerned.

And is there any reason why there is comb being produced beneath the frames?

So I checked on my hives again yesterday, about two and a half weeks after transferring the packages into their hives:

1. Italians - All ten frames had comb fully drawn, eggs, larvae, and lots of capped brood, and LOTS of bees. There were a couple of frames with several drone cells, but no queen cells. I didn't see the queen, but there were a ton of eggs. And these frames were HEAVY with nectar!

2. Saskatraz #1 - All ten frames had some drawn comb, with eight of them fully drawn. There were eggs, larvae, and capped brood. A lot of bees, but nothing like the Italians.

3. Saskatraz #2 - There were five frames with fully drawn comb, and at least some drawn comb on most all of them. There were eggs, larvae, and capped brood.

4. Carniolan #1: Still not many bees present. There was fully drawn comb on 2 frames, with one side of fully drawn comb on two other combs. There were eggs, larvae, and capped brood, and I saw the queen. There are just not many workers.

5. Carniolan #2: Comb was fully drawn on 6 of the frames, with partially drawn comb on the rest. There were eggs, larvae, and capped brood.

Few questions/concerns:

Being a newbee to beekeeping, I just realized I made a mistake. I bought ALL honey supers instead of more brood boxes. In order to give them more space, and to avoid swarming, I put a honey super on the first two boxes, to use as brood boxes. Will the honey super work as a brood box in the long term? And is there any harm in just using honey supers as brood boxes? I am off on Friday, so I can drive up to Mann Lake (about 30 minutes away) to pick up more brood boxes.

Also, I would like to add a frame of brood to hive #4, and possibly hive #3, from the first hive. Would taking two frames from one new hive be too much?

take 1 frame from the biggest and give to the smallest. looks like 1 and 4
not open brood, emerging brood, or oldest brood. if it is not yet "old" then wait a bit
let the bees do their thing, 6 frames at this time is ok.
the more you mess around the more chance for an issue.

super on the first brood box is ok, once partially filled , lift and add the brood box under.

Gravel Rider said:

I put a honey super on the first two boxes,

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the only hive needing box 2 is the Italian with 10 frames.
the other 3 should still be on the first box.
add second box at 9 frames drawn.
you do not add several at a time, until they are very strong.

only other thing to do maybe is pull frame 1 or 10 , when mostly full, from the Italians, shake the bees off to insure the queen is not present.
put it in one of the hives running behind in position 1 or 10.
these 2 frames will need to be filled for winter any way.
the stronger hive can assist in the draw and partial fill of winter stores frames for the weaker.

GG

Gravel Rider said:

Thank you for the quick reply.

Okay, looks like I jumped the gun a bit. At this point, should I remove the super I put on the second box when I get home from work tonight? Or just leave them now that I've already added them?

I'll buy more hive bodies on Friday, and make the switch from strongest to weakest.

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I would then presume the super was the 3rd box.
if true then yes.

bees need the hive at a certain temperature and Humidity, to optimize brood rearing.
if 6 frames of bees are in a 2 deep + 1 medium setup, a lot of bees have to work on the environment, and less can draw comb or care for brood. Bees do better a little tight, higher bee density is better.
they will not die like they are but it is just less than optimal.

I use 5 ,8 and 10F
my splits/nucs/packages go from 5 to 8 when they need space, then to a 10 or a 5 over 5.
So I grow the space 2-5 frames ahead of the bees current progress.

IF mine,, the 5 and 6 and 8 frame hive would be in a 10F box only.
As the 9th frame is drawn I would add more space.
However IF you plan to head to the lake for 2 weeks THEN the situation is different, One must add enough space to last 2-3 weeks.

so the final answer depends on where the bees are (I have some 4 hours away),, how fast they are growing.
And how often you intend to check on them. and of course for you if you have the wooden ware in hand

But I can offer the 6 frame hive should not be in 2 deeps and a medium.
Beside heating and humidity they need to patrol the space for intruders, like Wax moth, Small hive beetle , etc.

good luck
GG