Hi all,
My mom is a beginner beekeeper as am I. She lives in France and received a used Dadant beehive from a friend. In the winter we made a KTBH together when I was visiting them (I live in the Netherlands). In April she received bees for her empty Dadant hive and I inspected them last week when visiting my parents. All seems well and the queen is laying well.
For the KTBH I was hoping to catch a natural swarm but so far no luck.
So my question, when swarming season arrives next year, how do I split the Dadant hive and put half of the bees in the KTBH? The KTBH is totally empty at the moment with no comb at all. I imagine it would involve taking a brood comb frame from the Dadant and taking the actual frame apart and somehow putting that frame into the KTBH?
Or will the bees in the Dadant, when they swarm, automatically find the KTBH and use that as their new home? The hives stand side by side, about a meter apart. There is space to move them further apart, although then the goats and sheep might knock it over. The apiary fenced area is only about 3 by 3 meters, outside the apiary is a grass field for the farm animals.
Thanks for your insights.
My mom is a beginner beekeeper as am I. She lives in France and received a used Dadant beehive from a friend. In the winter we made a KTBH together when I was visiting them (I live in the Netherlands). In April she received bees for her empty Dadant hive and I inspected them last week when visiting my parents. All seems well and the queen is laying well.
For the KTBH I was hoping to catch a natural swarm but so far no luck.
So my question, when swarming season arrives next year, how do I split the Dadant hive and put half of the bees in the KTBH? The KTBH is totally empty at the moment with no comb at all. I imagine it would involve taking a brood comb frame from the Dadant and taking the actual frame apart and somehow putting that frame into the KTBH?
Or will the bees in the Dadant, when they swarm, automatically find the KTBH and use that as their new home? The hives stand side by side, about a meter apart. There is space to move them further apart, although then the goats and sheep might knock it over. The apiary fenced area is only about 3 by 3 meters, outside the apiary is a grass field for the farm animals.
Thanks for your insights.