I am completely new to beekeeping and have realized a few mistakes I have made.
1) When I suspended the queen cage in the hive on installation, I placed her between bars 9 & 10 (nearest the divider) and not 3 &4! The bees started their comb on the bar closest to the divider and are working their way towards the end entrance (TBH). Will this mess things up? Do I leave it alone and when they get the brood area filled move the divider down; will they come back to the beginning (bar 11) and continue to build into the rest of the hive? I have read not to rearrange the brood comb as this may really mess the colony up. I was thinking of placing a new entrance on the other end of the hive, moving the bars with comb down towards the new entrance then picking the hive up and rotating it so that their flight pattern isn't changed. Is this a good idea or not?
2) The second mistake I made was not taking the queen cage out. They have build comb around it, instead of cutting it out I have left it there and when pulling these bars out have just been taking both out at the same time as to not disrupt the comb. Is it essential that I get the cage out of there or can it be left alone?
I did a full hive inspection today and the colony is doing really well. Was even able to spot the queen.
Thanks for any input!
1) When I suspended the queen cage in the hive on installation, I placed her between bars 9 & 10 (nearest the divider) and not 3 &4! The bees started their comb on the bar closest to the divider and are working their way towards the end entrance (TBH). Will this mess things up? Do I leave it alone and when they get the brood area filled move the divider down; will they come back to the beginning (bar 11) and continue to build into the rest of the hive? I have read not to rearrange the brood comb as this may really mess the colony up. I was thinking of placing a new entrance on the other end of the hive, moving the bars with comb down towards the new entrance then picking the hive up and rotating it so that their flight pattern isn't changed. Is this a good idea or not?
2) The second mistake I made was not taking the queen cage out. They have build comb around it, instead of cutting it out I have left it there and when pulling these bars out have just been taking both out at the same time as to not disrupt the comb. Is it essential that I get the cage out of there or can it be left alone?
I did a full hive inspection today and the colony is doing really well. Was even able to spot the queen.
Thanks for any input!