Please allow me to advertise my ignorance..,
What the heck is it? I could only think that one may put two different weak colonies in two different supers separated only by a newspaper. It's either chewed through or yanked out later by the bee keeper. Am I close?
Quote from: GSF on July 06, 2013, 07:52:05 PM
Please allow me to advertise my ignorance..,
What the heck is it? I could only think that one may put two different weak colonies in two different supers separated only by a newspaper. It's either chewed through or yanked out later by the bee keeper. Am I close?
Yep! that's it! It doesn't necessarily have to be two weak hives, It can be combining a weak with a strong hive. Just as long as there is only one queen.
Quote from: GSF on July 06, 2013, 07:52:05 PM
Please allow me to advertise my ignorance..,
What the heck is it? I could only think that one may put two different weak colonies in two different supers separated only by a newspaper. It's either chewed through or yanked out later by the bee keeper. Am I close?
That's pretty much how it works, no need for the beek to remove, they will chew through it and carry it out the hive within a couple of days.
There are diffenent theories....some use multiple pages, some spray it down with sugar water, etc. etc.
I've done a few, I use just a single sheet of dry newspaper with a few slits made with a razor knife or hive tool. I've always cracked the top on the top box to give the bees in the top box a way to battle the heat until the colonies are joined....all have worked fine.
It's amazing to observe the piles of shreaded newspaper accumulate outside the entrance to the hive.
Thanks yall
Although its probably better if you pinch the worst queen but if you can't find her you can still combine. There will only be one when it's over.
I could be wrong, I often am. But I believe the bees will usually chose the right queen.
Recently I had a drone laying queen that I couldn't find. The girls were in a snot. I didn't have any newspaper with me so I put one box on one hive and the other box on a different hive.
Next morning there were a few dead bees on the landing boards, not many. A week later both hives were queen right. I guess they made the right choice.