[steelhog]

Hey all,

On my first few hives (because I knew I wanted to run 2 deep brood boxes) I installed bees into the hive and left both deep brood boxes and frames. Now doing inspections regularly I have found that I probably should have just have installed the bees into a single brood box and added the second box later when the time was right.......The bees are doing great, but I have comb build all over the place in both boxes and its a little harder to properly inspect and track progress as a beginner. At this point would it be worth taking the built comb/frames from the top brood box and moving to the bottom (then removing the top) so I can more easily track progress and ensure one area at a time is filled? Thanks all for the help. Thanks all for the help.

 

[Nelsonhoneyfarms]

Yep. I would start removing unused frames from both boxes and set them aside. Then consolidate the frames with drawn comb into the one box. Install the frames with the most brood into the center and work your way out to the edges. Keep a sharp eye out for the queen as you go and if you spot her, be especially careful with that frame. If there are still bees on any of them empty frames (assuming you used foundation), shake them into the hive. If there are bees in the newly emptied box that you are removing, either shake them into the bottom box, or just set it on top of the bottom box and let them walk down into it, being careful to minimize squishing of bees when you set it down (a little smoke can help you avoid this). Once they have gone down, remove the top (empty box) and replace the lid.

Don’t add the top box until they fill out 80% of the frames in the single bottom box.

Also, if for some reason the comb doesn’t “align” with the adjacent comb because you have repositioned them, avoid forcing it together. The bees will fix small irregularities, just pay special attention to how it fits together upon repositioning.

Ryan

 

[steelhog]

Thanks so much for the response! I will do this on my next inspection.