[Omie]

Started my two hives from nucs at end of April. They outgrew their first 10 frame deeps, and I added a second deep to each hive 4 weeks ago, with new wax foundation. A few days ago i inspected and found they had almost filled up the second deeps with nectar and brood. Lots of healthy busy bees!

So last night I hammered together 20 new wood frames for the first medium supers, and today i opened the 2 hives and put a honey super on each. I even got to see two new workers hatch out right while I was looking at a frame. Their silvery fuzzy heads chewed through the caps and out they came, all brandy new! :thumbsup:

These boxes are a bit different from my brood deeps, because I'm trying foundationless with them. I'd be using crush and strain if i get honey. First I used a level and shims to get the hives perfectly level. I used popsicle stick guides when making the frames, and I also put one wax foundation frame in the middle of each 10 frame super box to act as a 'ladder' to encourage the bees up to the guides.
Now to check on them every few days to see if they start building comb straight...
I'm excited! I didn't really dare to hope I might get some honey my first year. We'll see what the bees do now. My mentor says there is a big flow going on right now, and our weather has been very bee-friendly this year around here. YAY!!

 

[NasalSponge]

Awesome!! Hope you get some.

 

[CAHighwind]

Same here... started hives in the middle of April and I'll be danged if my second deep on my Lang wasn't already filled out today. I'm supering that bad boy tomorrow Wild flower bloom out this way is going nuts. Acres and acres of flowers for miles around, the bees are going crazy go nuts.

 

[Monie]

Woohoo!! Go omie!!

 

[honeyman46408]

I'm supering that bad boy tomorrow Wild flower bloom out this way is going nuts. Acres and acres of flowers for miles around, the bees are going crazy go nuts.

I hope you are putting on more than one super !!

 

[beekeeper1756]

Hey Omie,

Your bees are rocking. I've got two deeps of bees that I bought at the beginning of May and they have yet to completely draw out their first box. It's frustrating to me. I don't know why they don't move faster than that. Must be the queen right.

I've got hives in medium boxes who are going like gangbusters. What can I say.

Congrats on your hardworking bees.

I think you'll get some honey this year. :applause::applause:

 

[Omie]

Hey thanks everyone for the encouraging replies.

After my very first (mature) hive last Fall was given to me, and then it sadly died over the winter, I was so discouraged but knew I had to try to start over again this Spring.
I keep pinching myself to make sure I'm not dreaming, that my two new hives are doing really well. Knock on wood.
Honey?- that would be the icing on the cake and I really did not expect any at all this year. My only real goal this year was to nurture the two excellent nucs I bought (from Don/FatBeeMan) into strong hives with 2 deeps full this Fall, so they might get through next winter with enough stored food and bees.

All the BK's around here that I know of say we are having a great bee year, nectar and weather wise. Sure seems true! I know last year was the worst in many many years. Make honey while the sun shines!

I am also grateful to have a forum like this to get support and knowledge from 'kindred souls' like you all.

 

[Rottybee]

Congrats on your success so far! I started two hives on May 4th in mediums and foundationless. Hive #1 is the stronger of the two and has had it's third super on for about a week and a half. I just added the third to #2 just a few minutes ago. (Wow, it's humid out there!) Each time I have added a new super I take 1 frame from the one below and add it to the middle of the new super and put the empty foundationless frame in it's place. This has been working like magic. I have been feeding constantly even though they are working something like crazy. The only thing I see blooming now is clover but I've heard some say sourwood is blooming here now. I haven't seen any though. Good luck with your foundationless.

 

[Omie]

I inspected today, 6 days later....still no comb on any of the new super frames.
Patience.... :shhhh:

 

[DutchBee]

Congratulations! :applause:

Did you use a starter strip or anything?
I am going to try some foundation less in my next super so I can do some cut comb.