[Ambassador]

My two new packages have freed their queens. I assume they got out on Thursday. I rubberbanded some comb from a dead out into both of them to help them get started but some of it could have either used more support or the bees cut the bands a little too soon. I was going to fix the comb today but it was a bit cool and everybody was home. Should I wait to fix comb until the queens are laying or do it when it is warmer tomorrow and then leave them be to get situated for a week or so?

 

[Cloverdale]

Fix the comb ASAP.

 

[Ambassador]

Fix the comb ASAP.

Do I run the risk of them absconding if I'm in there too much before they have brood to help keep them?

 

[Cloverdale]

After fixing the comb let them be for a while and feed them....watch the hive entrance to familiarize yourself with their behaviors. There is a book you can download for free (about 90 pages or so) by H. Storch named "At the Hive Entrance". It's great....written a long time ago but well worth having in your library....Deb

 

[Ambassador]

After fixing the comb let them be for a while and feed them....watch the hive entrance to familiarize yourself with their behaviors. There is a book you can download for free (about 90 pages or so) by H. Storch named "At the Hive Entrance". It's great....written a long time ago but well worth having in your library....Deb

I think I've browsed that one a bit but I'll take another look. I guess I should have been more specific with my question. Does the need to fix the comb now outweigh the risk of irritating the hive to make the repairs? I'm assuming if I'm quick and don't cause too much of a ruckus I won't disturb them much but I just want make sure I'm not being a perfectionist but at the same time I don't want to have a huge mess on my hands in a week. =)

 

[Cloverdale]

Yes, fix the combs...

 

[the doc]

yes fix em fast what they have now will set the pattern for drawing the rest of the frames.

 

[Michael Bush]

One bad comb leads to another... they will repeat the error all the way across the box...

 

[Ambassador]

Well I fixed the combs the best I could last week with the limited weather conditions. There was only one spot I couldn't get to without disturbing what I presumed was the cluster around the queen. I "walled" this area off with an empty frame on each side of it followed by two drawn straight combs bookending the section to limit the mess. Today I checked them again and what appears to have happened is two of the combs I rubber banded into the frames got connected at the middle to each other and are now suspended by only one frame rather than two. It is sort of a ")(" shape. I know this needs to be fixed but it also appears to be the site of her majesty's first brood so I left it for now. She is laying on both sides of both pieces of comb and it is so thick with bees I can't even see how well they are connected to each other. I'm afraid of killing brood or even the queen trying to pry those sections apart with such a new package. Any suggestions on the best time and way to fix this? Do I just smoke them all off the frame and re-rubberband the hanging section? Should I wait until she has a few cycles of brood so the hive is more stable?