[trottet1]

LAST WEEKS POST


Dealing with an over wintered single. First semi-invasive inspection. Temp was dropping and so was daylight so I had to act fast. Here is what I did and saw.

Of 10 frames, the 3 on the right had tons of capped honey. 4th in had half honey and cleaned open cells. # 5 had tons of bees on it. 6 7 and 8 also had bees on them. The # of bees per frame got a little less on each frame in order. I moved frame 5 into a a hive body and surrounded it by brand new frames with foundation (most natural wax and 3 the black plastic kind)

My only concern, unless it gets pointed out that my actions above were wrong, are that on frame 5 I noticed what I thought to be swarm cells hanging from bottom of the frame ( 2 cells) I removed them and there was nothing in them and they were sealed up tight.

The bees had about enough of me medling in their home at dusk and I put the second deep ontop and closed her up.

Any thoughts and or critisism on how I handled myself in the situation?

Todd

THIS WEEKS UPDATED POST

That was my post from last week..... now this week I removed the second deep.

after buying a bee jacket and veil my confidence was way up and I am now able to do a real beekeepers inspection. This is what I found.

going from right to left. frames 1 - 5 were all packed with capped honey . There were only bees on 2-3 frames following those frames. My hive apparently is weaker coming out of winter than I thought. I originally was in a panic about swarming and just added that second deep and hive top feeder on top of that. I was suspicious something was up when I realized the bees were not taking the delicious feed I have provided for them, and absolutely no activity in that added deep either. I removed the deep today and put the feeder on the single. The frames following the frames with the bees on them look like they were all cleaned out. I assume they organize this and as they eat honey from the right, they will make room for brood.

The good news, I saw capped brood on the frames that were covered in bees, and I saw fresh uncapped brood (I still for the life of me can not see an egg but that is ok, I saw my lovely queen. Does all of this seem like I am good to go for now? was I correct in removing that second deep at this point? and, What signs should I look for to indicate that I should put that second deep on there? I know I contradicted my first post with the amount of bees on each frame. Either bee population diminished, I just saw wrong because of lack of daylight, or they really packed in tight on the 2 1/2 frames with the brood that I saw today.

I know this is a very long post (actually 2) and If you made it to this point, I really appreciate you hanging in there. Any advice or comments greatly appreciated.

Todd

 

[Vance G]

So whats the deal with frames 9 and 10? Are they empty? Is this 8 frame? If it is 8 frame it sounds like it is full and you need a second box. I just re read and see you have empty frames on one side. Remove two of those frames of honey and slide the rest of the frames over to that honey side and put the honey you took out on the other side. That mass of honey acts as a good heat sink to help keep the cluster warm at night. If this box you want to add is a deep and all foundation, I would believe it or not put it on the bottom. Your bees are about out of room but not populous enough to do much with a second box. The empty on the bottom will put them further away from cold air and the bees will move down if they run out of room. When the top box is ten frames of bees, then put the second box on top. That is the way I would play it. Best of luck whatever you choose and one more thing! No need for another full inspection for a couple weeks or more.

 

[trottet1]

Vance, thanks so much. Yes it is a ten frame. I did exactly what you said. Now the cluster is centered and in top box with a hive top feeder right above their heads. I saw my queen, I saw capped and uncapped brood and followed what sounds to be very good advice. I will only remove that cover to add syrup. Ill check in about a month and swap those boxes if that top box is swimming in bees. Thanks for the instant response and your advice.

Todd

 

[clyderoad]

trottet1== so now you have a empty 10 frame box on the bottom and the bees in the top box with the feeder on top of that, correct?

if so then I'd wait until dandelion bloom and reverse the brood boxes by putting the one with bees in it now on the bottom, and the empty one on the top. Don't go strictly by the calender, pay attention to the bee population and the dandy bloom as well. Spring here is slow to develop and I suppose yours is as well, so the hive top feeder is not a bad idea. My gut tells me that you should check them before a months time as that may be getting late and into rapid build up time. You'll want to reverse those boxes before rapid build up so the bees can draw those new frames that will now be on top for nectar storage. The beginning of Dandy bloom is a good time for
this as they will draw them out and be able to use them for nectar storage which takes up more room than honey.

I concur with all of Vance G's advice.

Big difference when you're dressed for the dance.

 

[trottet1]

Hey clyde!
Thanks for checkin in on this. Yes, I now have the bottom box up top and brand new deep on bottom and feeder is up top. I will keep an eye on the population and dandelion bloom. They are bringing in lots of pollen now from, I assume trees. Thanks again!

Todd

 

[clyderoad]

finally, lots of pollen.
also noticed some nectar being put up today, likely from maple. no big flow just a little glimmer in the bottom of the combs.

sounds like we can all (us and bees) use a decent stretch of real Spring weather to get things moving along.
keep us updated.
clyderoad