I have been given a hive of bees from a friend that was not into bees. He had a ten frame deep brood box and I use all medium 8 frames I would like to transfer them into one of my hives so i can keep all of my hives uniform in size and any opinions on the best way to do this
transfer bees from 10 to 8 frame hive
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Put two 8 frame meds on top then hurry up and wait until next spring for them to move up on their own? I am a newbee though Im sure there are quicker messier ways that will be suggested....
seems to me you havea choice to make. do you want to do some cutting, or some waiting? you can eitehr cut down the current frmes to make them fit medium boxes and then just cycle them out, or add your boxes on top and wait until they move into it...this could probably be sped along by using a queen excluder to force the queen to lay in the box of your choosing.
You could:
Buy an eight frame deep box.
Put the deeps in two medium boxes (with some extra room at the bottom)
Cut the combs out and tie them into mediums
Shake the bees off and run the frames through the table saw at 6 1/4"
Or some combination of all of these.
Buy an eight frame deep box.
Put the deeps in two medium boxes (with some extra room at the bottom)
Cut the combs out and tie them into mediums
Shake the bees off and run the frames through the table saw at 6 1/4"
Or some combination of all of these.
From your forum history, you started beekeeping last spring.
I believe, with experience, you will discover you will accumulate bee boxes of every size and description. You will find a practical use for every resource. Ask me about the lucky 13 frame boxes.
Making nucs* and building effective swarm traps work better with deeps. So you will want to hang on to those frames. You may discover (I have) that deeps build up better brood nests than stacked mediums of equivalent comb area. You will want to make that experiment yourself. Weight is zero issue with brood nests, as they are feather light compared to any honey super (even a shallow).
You are in the experimentation and learning phase. You state you run only 8 frame mediums -- based on what personal experimentation is this the best system for you? Loosen up and try different approaches, experiment, experiment, experiment.
A 3 inch shim -- easily constructed out of any scrap wood --- converts a medium to deep depth. That shim can be used next winter as an experiment with quilt boxes, or mountain camp feeding. This means you can build a stack off a 8 frame bottom board without buying a 8 frame deep box.
A 2 inch board closes off the top gap on a 10>8 frame stack. In time, I bet you will build a couple of 8 frame boxes to which you attach a 1" scab to each side, building a permanent stack converter.
*Note on nucs, I build a substantial number of 5 frame medium nucs (out of cheap 1x8 fenceboard). These work essentially like mating nucs, but with standard, rather than half frames. The tight little boxes build up very quickly, and get a double stack to size them up. However a double stack nuc, unlike a single deep, cannot really be transported in a convenient manner -- they are too unstable, even with scabs awkwardly screwed to the side.
I believe, with experience, you will discover you will accumulate bee boxes of every size and description. You will find a practical use for every resource. Ask me about the lucky 13 frame boxes.
Making nucs* and building effective swarm traps work better with deeps. So you will want to hang on to those frames. You may discover (I have) that deeps build up better brood nests than stacked mediums of equivalent comb area. You will want to make that experiment yourself. Weight is zero issue with brood nests, as they are feather light compared to any honey super (even a shallow).
You are in the experimentation and learning phase. You state you run only 8 frame mediums -- based on what personal experimentation is this the best system for you? Loosen up and try different approaches, experiment, experiment, experiment.
A 3 inch shim -- easily constructed out of any scrap wood --- converts a medium to deep depth. That shim can be used next winter as an experiment with quilt boxes, or mountain camp feeding. This means you can build a stack off a 8 frame bottom board without buying a 8 frame deep box.
A 2 inch board closes off the top gap on a 10>8 frame stack. In time, I bet you will build a couple of 8 frame boxes to which you attach a 1" scab to each side, building a permanent stack converter.
*Note on nucs, I build a substantial number of 5 frame medium nucs (out of cheap 1x8 fenceboard). These work essentially like mating nucs, but with standard, rather than half frames. The tight little boxes build up very quickly, and get a double stack to size them up. However a double stack nuc, unlike a single deep, cannot really be transported in a convenient manner -- they are too unstable, even with scabs awkwardly screwed to the side.
I am new at this game and trying to go from deeps to mediums. I was thinking of doing the following but would like to know if anyone has done this and if it would work.
Could you make a "conversion board" (a sheet of plywood that fits over a 10 frame hive but with a hole cut out the size of an 8 frame hive )-- pull the frame of bees with the queen from the 10 frame hive, place the 10 frame box on the bottom board with the conversion board and a queen excluder on top of the 10 frame box, , then the 8 frame box -- so it kind a shaker box. Put or shake the bees and queen into the 8 frame box and add frames of drawn comb. The bees in the lower box would move up and hopefully all is well
I would think they would gradually move the reserves of honey up above into the 8 frame box and supers as added.
Would this work? Or is it too much work for what is gained?
Could you make a "conversion board" (a sheet of plywood that fits over a 10 frame hive but with a hole cut out the size of an 8 frame hive )-- pull the frame of bees with the queen from the 10 frame hive, place the 10 frame box on the bottom board with the conversion board and a queen excluder on top of the 10 frame box, , then the 8 frame box -- so it kind a shaker box. Put or shake the bees and queen into the 8 frame box and add frames of drawn comb. The bees in the lower box would move up and hopefully all is well
I would think they would gradually move the reserves of honey up above into the 8 frame box and supers as added.
Would this work? Or is it too much work for what is gained?
Ortho : Just temporarily screw some 1" scabs to the sides of the 8 frame box at the bottom -- laps up the conversion width. (A 2x2 run through a table saw with a 20 degree angle can create two for each running length complete with a nice rain shedding bevel -- you just might want to make the addition permanent.).
Even a scrap piece of clamshell molding pulled off a doorframe casing is just the right size to close off the gap temporarily.
But my point stands, why? Purity? If you keep at beekeeping for a decade or more, you are going to accumulate all sorts of mis-match, and you may find some of that "stuff" is very useful. Its not weight, cause a brood nest is light. Why the obsession with scrapping deeps?
Even a scrap piece of clamshell molding pulled off a doorframe casing is just the right size to close off the gap temporarily.
But my point stands, why? Purity? If you keep at beekeeping for a decade or more, you are going to accumulate all sorts of mis-match, and you may find some of that "stuff" is very useful. Its not weight, cause a brood nest is light. Why the obsession with scrapping deeps?
For me, I just want to have uniform equipment. It was also encouraged in a beekeeping class I took.
I am going to keep the deeps but have considered cutting them down and using the cut off part as a feeder board or ventilation/spacing rim to put on the top of the hive (holes drilled with screen)
I was up to 3 deeps on the hive and it just gets too heavy -- I can lift them now but not sure about the years to come.
I am going to keep the deeps but have considered cutting them down and using the cut off part as a feeder board or ventilation/spacing rim to put on the top of the hive (holes drilled with screen)
I was up to 3 deeps on the hive and it just gets too heavy -- I can lift them now but not sure about the years to come.
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I agree with JWChesnut - I use mostly 8-frame, medium equipment, but I've still kept most of my 10-frame equipment, and even a few 10-frame deeps. I even have bees in a deep, or two. Mostly I use 10-frame supers to store my idle frames/combs in - they hold more, so it's more economical, especially since I don't run bees in most of my 10-frame gear. I've also cut many 10-frame supers in half on the band saw, glued and fastened new boards on their sides, and created many 5-frame nucs. Having a few deep supers is also handy when someone wants to give you bees on deep frames - you have a place to put them. Sometimes customers ask for nucs on deep frames. I've also built a few expansion rims, about 3" deep, and with their own frame rest rabbet's, if I place the rim above the medium super - I use the rims frame rests, though this is not necessary if I put it below the super. Sometimes above is better, and sometimes below is.
I have accumulated quite a bit of odds and ends. I was even gifted a vintage zinc queen excluder, just recently. I'd read about them in older literature, but this is the first one I'd seen in person. I don't believe this one was ever used, it has no traces of beeswax or propolis on it. I have also acquired some molded plastic clamshell frames, both deeps and mediums. They're some of the most durable plastic I've ever seen used for beekeeping equipment. With a minimal clean-up I've put some of them back into service. A few are a little warped, but all I've seen are still usable. They've been exposed to our desert sun for a very long time -- amazing.
I have accumulated quite a bit of odds and ends. I was even gifted a vintage zinc queen excluder, just recently. I'd read about them in older literature, but this is the first one I'd seen in person. I don't believe this one was ever used, it has no traces of beeswax or propolis on it. I have also acquired some molded plastic clamshell frames, both deeps and mediums. They're some of the most durable plastic I've ever seen used for beekeeping equipment. With a minimal clean-up I've put some of them back into service. A few are a little warped, but all I've seen are still usable. They've been exposed to our desert sun for a very long time -- amazing.
Wait until warm weather and the spring flow start.
Put the 10 frame deep on top of two of your 8 frame mediums (drawn comb will help, otherwise at least have foundation), use some scrap plywood to close off the sides so that it doesn't gap.
Smoke the bejeesus out of the deep frames. That should drive the queen down into the bottom boxes.
Check to make sure she's down there, then put a queen excluder on between the two boxes.
The queen should then be trapped down in the mediums and will start laying there. The worker and nurse bees will tend to any brood left above the excluder until it hatches out while the queen lays in only the bottom boxes.
Once all the brood in the deep hatch out, the bees should start backfilling with honey. You may then remove the 10 frame deep and either harvest the frames or set them well outside of the hive and let your bees rob them out.
Put the 10 frame deep on top of two of your 8 frame mediums (drawn comb will help, otherwise at least have foundation), use some scrap plywood to close off the sides so that it doesn't gap.
Smoke the bejeesus out of the deep frames. That should drive the queen down into the bottom boxes.
Check to make sure she's down there, then put a queen excluder on between the two boxes.
The queen should then be trapped down in the mediums and will start laying there. The worker and nurse bees will tend to any brood left above the excluder until it hatches out while the queen lays in only the bottom boxes.
Once all the brood in the deep hatch out, the bees should start backfilling with honey. You may then remove the 10 frame deep and either harvest the frames or set them well outside of the hive and let your bees rob them out.
If it were me I'd simply move the deep frames to an 8 frame deep (doubt the broodnest is on all ten frames). Then add all meds on top. The broodnest will naturally move up and by next winter/early spring you can remove the deep if you don't like it. I started w/ all meds and personally like to use a deep now. I'm currently experimenting w/ a med, deep, med broodnest configuration. About to put the top meds where the broodnest currently is on the bottom and the deep, then current bottom med, above. Seems to work for the carnis as they don't overwinter w/ a large cluster--not sure about my Italians yet (will find out next winter).
Of course your bees may decide to stay in the deep. I do have one hive that doesn't like to move up for some reason.
Of course your bees may decide to stay in the deep. I do have one hive that doesn't like to move up for some reason.
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>You may discover (I have) that deeps build up better brood nests than stacked mediums of equivalent comb area.
After 43 years of double deeps, 12 frame Jumbos and ten frame jumbos I have just made two apiaries for clients out of all eight frame mediums. Have I possibly fallen prey to the teachings on this forum? Are you suggesting that I might regret it?
After 43 years of double deeps, 12 frame Jumbos and ten frame jumbos I have just made two apiaries for clients out of all eight frame mediums. Have I possibly fallen prey to the teachings on this forum? Are you suggesting that I might regret it?
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Hang in there... lots of knowledge in here find out what you want and see what works for you
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