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!!
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!!