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Working with Layens Horizontal Swarm 7-Frame Traps and 14-Frame Hives and could use a little help . . .
Caught a nice swarm May 2: https://youtu.be/LE4HrQAKN3g
May 14, moved the swarm on 7 frames to a 14-Frame Hive with nice comb developing. All 7 frames were looked something like this:
So I added two more frames. Yah, no suit, just a long sleeve shirt, nitrile gloves and a veil. My bee jacket had not come in yet! I think, at least during nectar flow, I could work these girls with nothing more than a veil . . . well, OK, shorts and a t-shirt!
Adding frames every couple of weeks I'm up to 12 frames, with all but the two most recent looking like this:
I know I need to leave something around 50 lbs of honey for the bees to overwinter (Zone 6a/b). I've searched the Internet and this forum, I've tried emailing Dr. Leo; I can't find an approximate weight of a honey filled frame. I've done lots of extrapolation. He mentions in some writings at one point, leaving 10-12 frames in a 19 frame hive.
From HoneyBeeSuite I find:
The Mann Lake catalog used to have estimates for the weight of full boxes. According to them, a full ten-frame deep weighs 80-90 pounds (36-41 kg), and a full ten-frame medium weighs 65-75 pounds (29-34 kg). Discounting the weight of the structure and dividing by 10, a full deep frame holds about 8 pounds (4 kg) of honey and full medium holds about 6 pounds (3 kg). (If you evenly space nine frames in a ten-frame box, a full frame will weigh a bit more.)
From Horizontal Hive I find a Langstroth to Layens Conversion (about 3/4 of the way down the page) of two mediums turned sideways.
Sooooo,
During the swarms build-up in the first month, I was regularly seeing pollen coming into the hive:
Now, I'm seeing little, or no, pollen coming in:
Am I correct in thinking that the pollen foraging will slow with the full nectar flow on, so this is normal?
Can I open up the second entrance to help speed things up for the bees? I initially left it closed so the swarm, with reduced population, could more easily defend from robbing.
Thanks for any comments!
John
Caught a nice swarm May 2: https://youtu.be/LE4HrQAKN3g
May 14, moved the swarm on 7 frames to a 14-Frame Hive with nice comb developing. All 7 frames were looked something like this:

So I added two more frames. Yah, no suit, just a long sleeve shirt, nitrile gloves and a veil. My bee jacket had not come in yet! I think, at least during nectar flow, I could work these girls with nothing more than a veil . . . well, OK, shorts and a t-shirt!
Adding frames every couple of weeks I'm up to 12 frames, with all but the two most recent looking like this:

I know I need to leave something around 50 lbs of honey for the bees to overwinter (Zone 6a/b). I've searched the Internet and this forum, I've tried emailing Dr. Leo; I can't find an approximate weight of a honey filled frame. I've done lots of extrapolation. He mentions in some writings at one point, leaving 10-12 frames in a 19 frame hive.
From HoneyBeeSuite I find:
The Mann Lake catalog used to have estimates for the weight of full boxes. According to them, a full ten-frame deep weighs 80-90 pounds (36-41 kg), and a full ten-frame medium weighs 65-75 pounds (29-34 kg). Discounting the weight of the structure and dividing by 10, a full deep frame holds about 8 pounds (4 kg) of honey and full medium holds about 6 pounds (3 kg). (If you evenly space nine frames in a ten-frame box, a full frame will weigh a bit more.)
From Horizontal Hive I find a Langstroth to Layens Conversion (about 3/4 of the way down the page) of two mediums turned sideways.
Sooooo,
- If a full medium weighs about 6 pounds
- You can convert two sideways mediums to a Layens
- Each double medium conversion would be about 6 pounds
- Layens Frame should be about 6 pounds
- I need to leave 4, preferably 5, honey-filled frames (48-60 pounds) for my bees to overwinter?
During the swarms build-up in the first month, I was regularly seeing pollen coming into the hive:

Now, I'm seeing little, or no, pollen coming in:

Am I correct in thinking that the pollen foraging will slow with the full nectar flow on, so this is normal?
Can I open up the second entrance to help speed things up for the bees? I initially left it closed so the swarm, with reduced population, could more easily defend from robbing.
Thanks for any comments!
John